Beginnings of a Master: Dictian Diaries
by Articunomew
Summary: The stories of legends start at the beginning. Samuel Sapphire is a seventeen year old boy who wins a contest and taken to the Dictioy Region to begin his Pokémon journey, learning everything he needs to know to be International Champion.
1. Chapter 1: Grim Tidings

Pokemon ©1995-2012 Nintendo, GAME FREAK Inc, Creatures Inc.  
>Dictioy and all related creatures, items and landforms ©2004-2012 Articunomew<p>

_Now I can begin to tell the story.  
>A legend is not a legend until it is.<br>Together we can celebrate the glory  
>My friends, my friends.<em>

_It's amazing to think you can do anything,  
>When you believe in yourself.<br>One voice can make a difference.  
>One dream can go the distance.<em>

_The greatest battles have been overcome,  
>With one heart, one mind.<br>One love, one life.  
>That's the power of one.<em>

_One  
>performed by Denisse Lara<em>

"The technology of the Pokéball is the result of various sciences working together. Those who don't understand the full capabilities of it are often astounded by this small device." The man at the front of the class stopped for a moment, scanning the crowd of students before him. "Because of this, the Pokéball can be considered the pinnacle of our scientific knowledge, representing our modern society. Can anyone name a reason why the Pokéball has only been a relatively recent development in our history?"

Silence washed over the class. A buzz of irritation filled the man. Just before he was about to carry on with his lecture, a tentative hand rose in the air.

"Yes, Mr Sapphire?"

The boy in question looked at the classroom board, his brow furrowed in concentration. Blue eyes scanned the board, until he seemed sure of his answer. "Because of Einstein's law of energy?"

"You mean Einstein's Law of Mass-Energy Equivalence?" The boy nodded. "Correct. Who can explain why this law may cause scientific and technological problems? Ashlee?" He pointed to a girl in the front row.

"Um." She looked confused. "Because... Pokémon get smaller when they're in their Pokéballs?"

The teacher waved his hand. "That's part of it. Mr Sapphire, since you brought it up, can you explain the issue?"

Samuel Sapphire frowned again. "I can try... Er, the main issue is that when Pokémon enter or leave their Pokéballs, there is energy used to change forms, from their normal bodies to... whatever they are inside the Pokéball. So basically more energy is used to change the Pokémon, than it is to keep it inside, or to keep it outside."

Mr Hinde nodded. "That's right. Now, because of this loss of energy, Pokéballs have several tiny batteries to store the immense amounts of power required to do this. But then it becomes a problem of how to generate the energy. We look to the more basic forms of energy to do this. Most Pokéballs are covered in paint which acts as highly sensitive solar panels, recharging by being in the sun. In addition to this, they also have kinetic inhibitors, basically using the friction of being moved when you walk to power up further energy. In the lower end of Pokéballs, some won't open shortly after being used because they don't have enough power. This is why Pokéballs are commonly thrown by trainers during battle." He stopped for a moment, collecting his thoughts. "In the case of electric Pokémon, the Pokéball also uses the excess energy that the Pokémon gives off to cha-." He cut off as a small figure in white suddenly formed on his desk, coalescing into the form of a small Ralts, holding a small envelope. Cheerily, the Ralts gave the note to the teacher, before teleporting away.

Unfolding the note, Mr Hinde's mouth moved as he read it, muttering as he did. "Mr Hinde... Send him to... bring schoolbag." He looked up. "Mr Sapphire, you are asked to go to the office. Please pack up your things quietly, they have asked you to take your bag with you."

Now the class was awake. With a collective "Ooooooh." they all began grinning, some swivelling around to look at Sam, others breaking into a small chant they sang anytime someone got into trouble and was asked to see the Principal.  
>Confused yet again, Sam automatically packed up his book and pens, nudging the young Growlithe at his feet into waking. Giving a small growl, it opened one of its eyes to look up at the boy. "Time to go Indy." Sam said, holding out a Pokéball to the puppy Pokémon. Once it was returned to its home, Sam finished packing up, slinging his bag onto his back. Uncomfortably aware of all the eyes focused on him, despite Mr Hinde's best efforts to regain attention, Sam walked out of the room. Once in the hallways, which were, thankfully, a lot more devoid of judgmental teenagers than the classroom, Sam pondered on the reason as to why he was being called to the front office. He wasn't late on anything school related, and he wasn't on any sporting teams. He was a member of the Student Representative Council, but they weren't planning any events Sam was involved in. By the time he had reached the office, he was just as clueless as when he had left Mr Hinde's classroom.<p>

He approached the front desk. "Excuse me?"

One of the office ladies looked up at him. "Oh, Mr Sapphire. Please, go right in." She waved to her right, the location of the Principal's office. A flicker of red met Sam's eyes as he looked in that direction. Looking at it directly, he found himself looking at the back of his mother's head, looking like she was engaged in a quiet conversation with the principal of the school, Mr Coll. Gulping, and trying to fight down the feeling of dread which had popped up in his stomach, Sam tugged on the strap of his schoolbag and entered the Principal's office.

Being the one to face the door, Mr Coll was the first to see Sam. "Ah, Sam. Come in." He waved to an empty seat besides Sam's mother. His voice had an accent from Poligem, one of the regions from the other side of the world, but it didn't betray the reason why Sam had been called to the office. Sitting carefully in the seat besides his mother, Sam looked at her from the corner of his eye. She didn't _look_ upset. Eyes drifting back to look at Mr Coll, they stopped suddenly on an envelope on the table between the two parties.

A silence stretched through the room, broken when Mr Coll cleared his throat. "Would you like to tell him?" He asked Sam's mother politely.

She turned in her seat slightly, so that she could face Sam. "I got this letter today." She said abruptly. "It's from the Pokémon Newspaper Competition."

The Pokémon Newspaper Competition was an annual event run by the International Pokémon League. Each year, kids aged ten to eighteen would submit an essay on a subject outlined in the original competition advertisement. Ten winners would be chosen from across the world, and were sent to a region playing host to the Competition that year. There, they would receive a Trainer license, equipment to head out on a Pokémon journey, and most importantly, a starter Pokémon from one of three regions. Dictioy, the northern neighbour to Kanto, was hosting it this year, with the starter Pokémon being supplied by two undisclosed regions, and Dictioy. In addition, the International Pokémon League would supply one extra starter Pokémon, bringing the number of available choices up to ten. The International League had supplied a Pichu for close to fifteen years now, in honour of the International Pokémon Champion, Ash Ketchum.

"You've been accepted in third place." Fiona finished simply. She began to say something else, but Sam couldn't hear over the sudden roaring which had filled his ears. _Third_ place? He didn't think he'd qualify, let alone as highly as third place. It meant he would have third choice of all the Pokémon, making it that much more likely he'd get what he wanted.

'_Sam?_' A voice broke through his mind, bringing his attention back to the present. His mother had used telepathy on him when it seemed her physical efforts had failed.

Sam shook his head. "Yes, sorry. You mean I actually got in?" He asked excitedly. When his mother nodded, he let out a whoop of joy, causing a few passing teachers to peer in to the office out of curiosity. Noticing this, Mr Coll got up and carefully closed the door.

"Assuming you accept, this means we will be removing you from your classes and placing you into a special accelerated program." Mr Coll said as he returned to his seat. "This will finish off this year of education, and give you qualifications if you decide to stop your Pokémon Journey and settle down. I have already contacted the local college and they have a spot for you in the Advanced Pokémon Training class if you would like to enrol. This will teach you many of the basics that Pokémon Trainers would learn the hard way, such as care for your Pokémon, foraging and the like."

Sam had been nodding throughout this speech, before he stopped, looking at his mother. "I am allowed to go, right?"

His mother sighed. "I would prefer you finish your education, but this is a one time offer." She bit her lip, pondering for a moment. "So long as you pass all your classes, and complete the Advanced Training course, it's fine with me." Her last words were tainted with a tinge of sadness. Reaching out, he grabbed her hand, squeezing it reassuringly. His older sister had left on her own journey when she was thirteen, but had stopped when she was seventeen. He was seventeen now, a lot older than most trainers who usually started out in their early teens.

"Well, I'll get all the paperwork in order then." Mr Coll said jubilantly. "Mr Sapphire, congratulations on your win in the competition. You will be withdrawn from all your classes, effective immediately. On Monday, you will need to arrive here at 8am to start your accelerated classes. These will end at 3pm, at which stage, you will go to the Advanced Pokémon Training Classes at Southern Island Tech. You have a busy few months ahead of you, but I believe you can do it."

"As do I." Said Fiona.

"There is one last thing." Mr Coll said, as Sam and Fiona got up to leave. "Sam, I understand that this is extremely exciting for you, but I would advise you to ask the advice of anyone you know who has been on a Pokémon Journey. You may be inclined to ignore a lot of it, but I do ask that you approach them with an open mind, as your mother can probably attest to." He looked at her, receiving a nod. "Otherwise, your mother is more likely to be able to put you into contact with visiting Pokémon trainers than I am. Congratulations again on your win."

Sam smiled at his mother. While she may not look it, she had been the Gym Leader of Mist City for the past five years, raising five children as she had done so. Her type specialty was the Psychic Type. Sam had inherited some of her psychic abilities, but had nowhere near the power his mother had. His own abilities were primarily telepathic, but he had some minor skill with telekinesis and teleportation. Enough to impress his friends and classmates at least. His sisters also had psychic abilities, but had inherited more power than he had.

Putting a hand on his shoulder, Fiona led Sam from the office to the front of the school. "You may want to tell Professor Rowan that you are leaving." She said as they walked. "That way he can begin to look for another junior assistant to take care of the Pokémon."

Sam had a part-time job working for Professor Rowan, the resident professor of Southern Island. His speciality was Legendary Pokémon, and he had had frequent meetings with Latios and Latias, the two guardian Legendaries who called Southern Island home. His father was also a professor in some region to the north, whose name Sam currently forgot.

"You're right." He said, quirking his mouth. "Do you mind teleporting me there? The sooner the better, you know what his attention span is like." Fiona smiled. Professor Rowan was easily distracted, and usually bounced between several studies at once. Waving her hand goodbye, she teleported Sam to the Professor's Lab.

Sam reeled for a moment. He always forgot how disconcerting teleportation was. When he straightened up, he looked around. His mother had sent him to the entry hall of the lab. This wasn't unusual, it was a basic entry point for most people. What was unusual was that the front door appeared to be locked. The lab was silent, except for the dull beeping of computers, and the occasional cry of a Pokémon from somewhere far off.

"Hello?" Sam asked, taking a tentative step. He had a key to the lab, Professor Rowan sometimes went off into the natural habitat to study Pokémon, but he usually told Sam before he left. Sam's duties were minor, basically just to feed the many Pokémon, and occasionally to perform some basic first aid if Professor Rowan wasn't around to fix the Pokémon up. Giving a shrug, Sam took his bag off, walking into a room branching off of the entry hall. Placing his bag down, he opened a small cupboard where he kept the clothes he wore when dealing with the Pokémon. Changing quickly, he stuffed his bag into the cupboard, wandering into the main room of the lab. He quickly looked around for a note or message, but saw nothing until he was past the technical equipment and near the door to the Pokéball Storage Room, where the Pokéballs were stored while their inhabitants were let loose around the property. A note was on a small table.

_Sam, do not-_

He looked at the note in amusement. It seemed that Professor Rowan had gotten distracted while writing this. It was a basic message, one Professor Rowan kept telling him during the winter months: 'Do not go anywhere near the Ice Pokémon area'. The winter, despite being mild on Southern Island, usually made them a bit rowdy. Pushing open the door to the Pokéball Storage room, he looked around for the tray of Pokéballs whose inhabitants needed to be let out today. Instead, he was confronted with a small pen, where three young Pokémon ambled about. A Treecko and a Torchic were curled up together in a sunbeam, sleeping quietly, while a Mudkip was exploring the things left in the pen. Hearing footsteps, it looked up at Sam, eyes lighting up as it saw someone.

"Kip! Mudkip mud!" It said in a high pitched voice.

"Hey there." Sam greeted, crouching down near the wall of the pen. Professor Rowan hadn't told him that he had Beginner Trainers coming by, but that could be from being distracted. He had been rather secretive lately though, Sam hadn't even seen the eggs for these three being incubated. The Mudkip stood up on its forelegs, bracing itself against the walls of the pen nearest to Sam.

"Kip!" It squeaked again, sounding rather demanding. Giving a chuckle, Sam reached over, gently picking up the baby Pokémon. Standing up, he inspected the young Pokémon, while it looked solemnly back at him. It looked like it had a small scratch on the side of its stomach, probably from one of the other two sleeping Pokémon. Otherwise, it seemed fine. Its stomach bulged, implying that it had recently eaten, which was good.

"Let's get you fixed up." Sam said, cradling the Mudkip in his arms. In response, it wriggled until it had a prime vantage point from the boy's arms. Walking over to a nearby table, Sam placed the Mudkip down, bending down to grab the first aid kit. Worried by the sudden disappearance of its new friend, the Mudkip bounded to the side of the table, peeking over just as Sam came back up, first aid kit in hand. The young Pokémon jumped back quickly, eyes widened in fear. Opening its mouth, a small stream of water poured out, landing in a puddle less than two inches from it. Looking down at the Mudkip in amusement, Sam chuckled. "It's just me." He said. Pulling out some antiseptic spray, he quickly flipped the Mudkip over, spraying the scratch and applied a bandaid before the water-type quite knew what was going on. Giving another squeak, it struggled, flipping over onto its stomach and attempted to spray Sam again.

"Close, wait until you're a bit older though." He advised the young Pokémon. In response, the Mudkip growled, a high pitched sound that was more akin to a purr than a sound of terror. Sam chuckled again, scooping up the small Pokémon and returned with it to the pen. By now, the other two were awake. As Sam placed the Mudkip down, the Torchic gave a challenging cheep, dashing towards the Mudkip in an attempt at a Tackle attack. Sam intercepted the chick Pokémon before it could reach its target.

"I don't think so." He told the Torchic. He walked away from the pen with the Torchic in his hands, placing it lightly on the table. Once the Torchic was in place, albeit, a bit wobbly, he began his inspection of it. This was harder than checking the Mudkip, the feathers hid any bumps and scrapes, but Sam was able to find three parallel scratches to the left of the Torchic's back. Ignoring the throbbing of his finger, the Torchic had pecked him rather hard when he had found the injuries, he gave the Torchic the same treatment as the Mudkip, though without the bandaids. Before he put the Torchic back, he separated the pen into two halves, with the Torchic on one side, and the Mudkip on the other. Inspection of the Treecko was quick and easy, though its tail kept slipping into his sleeve and catching hold. Once done with the three young ones, he moved around the rest of the room, tidying it quickly and grabbing the selection of Pokémon to take outside.

Sam worked uninterrupted for a few hours, savouring the quiet of the lab. Other than a scuffle between a Zorua and a Noctowl, the Zorua kept trying to sneak up on the Noctowl and pounce on it during feeding time, there weren't any problems. By the time Sam returned to the lab, sweaty and warm from the walking, all three baby Pokémon were asleep and Professor Rowan was back. He looked up absently when Sam entered the room, a look of confusion on his face.

"Sam? Why are you here so early?" He asked. A look of panic suddenly covered his face. "It's not 4pm already is it!?"

"No Professor, it's only 2:30pm." Sam replied, pointing to a nearby clock. "I was let out of school early, and I decided to come in early and do my chores. It is my day after all." Sam shared his duties with about three other teenagers from around the city, each getting a different day to come in and do it all, rather than sharing the duties. They figured they'd learn more that way. "Do you mind if I sit down-' he cut off, looking around. All available chairs were covered in books and research papers. "-somewhere?"

Professor Rowan looked dubiously at the piles. "Yes, give me a moment." Getting up, he grabbed a massive armful of paper, dumping it on the next seat. "Go ahead."

"Thanks." Sam gratefully sat down, his aching feet gaining some relief after the past few hours. "Professor, I received some news today."

"Oh?" The Professor was already looking back at his research. "What is it?"

"I entered the Newspaper Pokémon Contest a few months ago. I received a letter today, saying I was one of the ten winners."

"Newspaper?" Professor Rowan asked, his mind plainly elsewhere. "Yes, there should be some in the kitchen. Is there a broken window?"

"No, I won the Pokémon Contest in the newspaper Professor."

"There's only one newspaper with Pokémon in it?" Professor Rowan sounded confused. He turned to Sam, his attention finally back on the boy.

"No, Professor. I'm one of the ten winners of the Pokémon contest." Sam said, exasperation in his voice.

"You're one of..." The Professor trailer off, before recognition seemed to flare in his eyes. "Oh, yes, now I remember. You didn't go in..." He stopped, appearing to try and remember something. "I did leave a note didn't I? I'm sure I did."

"Professor?"

"Did you go into the Pokéball Storage Room?" Professor Rowan questioned weakly, looking like he already knew the answer.

Sam blinked in confusion. "Of course, it's one of my duties. What does-." He stopped, as a puzzle piece clicked into place. "Southern Island is one of the regions supplying Pokémon for the contest?"

Professor Rowan slumped in his seat. "I forgot how quick you are." He muttered. "The damage has already been done." He said in a voice that said he was speaking to himself as much as Sam. Looking over at the boy, he stopped for a moment, seeming to think about what he was going to say. "Yes, we are. I'm going to have to ask you not to tell anyone else though. I know you won't!" He stammered as Sam raised an eyebrow. "But I just wanted to be sure." He paused for a moment. "I'm going to have to ask you to not interact with the three Pokémon in the Pokéball Storage Room though, you understand. It won't do for one of those three to get attached to you."

Sam nodded, feeling disappointed. While he wasn't too upset on behalf of the Torchic, he had liked the Mudkip and the Treecko.

"In the meantime, congratulations. I would like you to know that I wasn't the one to rank your essay. All essays from Southern Island were given to the other two Professors to judge." Sam nodded, the thought had occurred to him. "I suppose I shall have to begin looking for a new assistant, but if you want to recommend anyone, I'll be open to any ideas you may have." He stopped for a moment again. "I suppose that's it. If you need help with anything else, just ask."

Sam knew a dismissal when he heard one. Getting up with a murmured thanks to the Professor, he returned to the room where his clothes were, grabbed his bag and headed back to his home in town. The walk was relatively short, only fifteen minutes, but that was enough time for Sam to get bored. Plugging in headphones to his PokéNav, he began playing music, oblivious to what was going on around him. As he neared a road by a cliff face, he paused. There was a faint shimmer in the distance. Cocking his head, he headed towards the fence by the cliff, leaning on it to get a better view.

Southern Island was basically a dead volcano which had exploded millions of years ago. The centre of the island was an immense lake, with a small patch of rock in the centre, upon which was built a shrine to Latias and Latios, the guardians and patron gods of Southern Island.  
>That was who Sam could see now.<p>

Latias and Latios sightings weren't rare in Southern Island, but they were uncommon enough to be a treat. Some of the more famous members of Southern Island, such as Professor Rowan, and Sam's mother, were given permission by the Legendaries to approach during emergencies, or in the case of Professor Rowan, once a year for scientific purposes, but they didn't often interact with others. They appeared to be playing, swooping down on each other and spinning a lot. Sam chuckled as Latias nearly collided with Latios, saving herself at the last moment by performing a stop that Sam knew had to have been aided by telekinesis. After watching them for a few minutes, he turned and continued his way home. He needed to begin preparing for his classes. Only two months, and he would be gone from Southern Island. He would be in a new place, and starting a new life. It was his dream, but he was terrified. Once he was out there, he had no-one to rely on, but his Pokémon and himself.


	2. Chapter 2: First Steps

Pokemon ©1995-2012 Nintendo, GAME FREAK Inc, Creatures Inc.  
>Janera and all related creatures, items and landforms ©2002-2012 Obsidian Blade<br>Metone and all related creatures, items and landforms ©2002-2012 TopazSoarhire  
>Dictioy and all related creatures, items and landforms ©2004-2012 Articunomew<p>

* * *

><p><em>We never had a doubt,<em>_  
><em>_That you always figure out,__  
><em>_Which way you're going,__  
><em>_Yeah..._

_Be proud of what you've done,  
>And the person you've become.<br>But if you ever feel afraid,  
>We're gonna help you find your way.<em>

_Whatever you want, whatever you need,  
>All of our love will set you free.<br>There will always be someone waiting,  
>Because you're never too far from home.<em>

Never Too Far From Home  
>from the Totally Pokémon Soundtrack<p>

"Flight 96 is now boarding from Gateway 19. Repeat, flight 96 is now boarding from Gateway 19."

Sam turned to look at his family. They were all sitting in a row, making polite conversation, seeming to dread this moment. "I guess this is it."

His mother's face softened for a moment as she looked up at the departure times. Looking over at his younger brothers, Sam mentally tried to capture their faces in his mind. This would be the last he'd see them in quite a while. His youngest sister was sitting on his lap, her face almost a mirror of their mother's. Sam gently nudged her from his lap, grabbing his old school bag. It was packed with the bare essentials, clothes and one or two personal trinkets. His mother, and then older sister, had gone through his bag twice each, arguing over what a Trainer needed. Professor Rowan had left for Dictioy already, attending the annual conference that coincided with the Newspaper Contest, where the world's leading Pokémon Professors gathered to discuss findings. Sam had slipped him a few of his belongings, intending to get them back when he arrived in Dictioy.

Giving a sigh, Sam tugged on his ear slightly, wincing when his brand new ear piercing protested at the treatment. He'd had it done in preparation to buy a PokéTrans, a Pokémon Language Translator developed by Silph Corporations in Kanto. The small machine intercepted Pokémon language before it entered the ear, changing it into the common human language. Right now, the PokéTrans was in a small box in Sam's bag, awaiting activation by the International League when Sam received his Trainer Card. While the PokéTrans wasn't inherently dangerous, the Charter of Pokémon Rights demanded that all humans with the ability to communicate with Pokémon, through natural means or otherwise, be tracked by the International League. Many trainers had them, but most didn't, as possession of a PokéTrans could result in being made negotiator between an angry town and some angry Pokémon who had eaten some crops, among other such situations.

The crowd of people around the departure gate was thinning out slightly. Giving his mother a small smile, Sam took small steps in that direction, resuming a normal pace when his family fell into step around him. His older sister wasn't there, she was at home nursing her Anticairon, a powerful bird Pokémon. It was said that there was only one Anticairon in the world at the time, but Sam hadn't been able to find anything to support or deny the rumour. Sensing her own impending death, his sister's Anticairon had birthed her last nest of eggs, and was looking after them with help from Ani, Sam's sister.

"Sam!" That was Sam's greeting when he had entered Ani's home, his final visit before he left. Looking down, Sam was greeted with the sight of one of his two nieces, running towards him for a hug. Smiling, he knelt down and caught the young girl. He stood up, spinning her around once. His other niece was asleep, from what he could tell, it being too quiet for her to be awake.

Ani poked her head around a corner of the house. "Hey Sam. Just a second." She quickly grabbed her second daughter, walking off with her down a hallway. "Stay in here sweetheart." She said, putting her daughter down in a room, where Sam could see his brother-in-law was napping. Closing the door gently, Ani beckoned to Sam, turning into a second room, a small hall which contained a laundry and the back door. Once in the back yard, Ani turned to Sam.

"Lady doesn't have very long left, but she wanted to see you." She said. Lady was the name of her Anticairon. "Once you come back inside, we can have a small farewell party." Sam nodded, and with that, Ani returned to the house, waving in the direction Sam was to go. Walking in the backyard carefully, he looked at the single tree that grew there. This house had been his grandmother's once, and Sam had fond memories of climbing in the tree's many braches when he was younger. Now, however, it was a nest for Anticairon and her eggs. Walking forward, he paused under the nest, where a single blue feather trailed down.

"Excuse me? Lady?"

A rustling came from above. Slowly, a blue head peeked over the edge of the nest. Lady blinked slowly down at Sam, before nodding once. "_Please come up._" A faded whisper broke the air, Lady had spoken in the common human language.

Sam gulped. Instinctively, he reached for the lowest branch thick enough to support his weight, he noted with slight amusement that it only up to his chest now, hoisting himself up until he was of a slightly lower level than Lady and her brood. Anticairon were proud Pokémon, and Sam didn't really want to offend her, particularly this close to her death.

Once he was firmly, though not entirely comfortably, seated, he folded his hands on his lap, inspecting the nest. Lady sat upon her eggs, feathers fluffed out. From his vantage point, Sam could see parts of two eggs. Judging on their size, he guessed that she had laid three or four. Realising that the silence between them had stretched into the zone of uncomfortable, he swallowed again, looking up and meeting Lady's eyes.

"_We are both aware that it is nearly my time_." Lady said abruptly. "_I won't live long enough to see my chicks breathe their first breath. Ordinarily, my chicks would be born into this world alone, without a mother to guide them. However, these are not common circumstances._" She spoke with an elegant accent, sounding very precise in how she pronounced her words. "_I am among the few Anticairon who have chosen to escort a human, your sister. Because of this, we are in a unique circumstance. I understand that you are about to break from your own shell and set forth into the world as a chick, much like my children."_ Sam nodded. "_If that is the case, I would ask a favour of you_."

Lady carefully shifted her weight, moving backwards carefully until Sam could see part of one of her other eggs. Lady reached down, using her beak to roll it forward.

"Adrianne has her own chicks to take care of, and I fear that three more may take too much of a toll on her, even if she is helped by her life partner. My favour is this: when you break free of your shell, please take one of my children with you. The other two may come to join you in time, or explore the world on their own, but I wish for at least one to live a life among humans, so that my species may better understand yours."

Sam's eyes widened as Lady made her request, looking at the egg. "You want me to take one of your eggs?"

"_I would not ask this of you if I did not believe it was of great importance, or if I did not believe you would treat my child as less than an equal_." Lady's reply came even more quietly. Looking up at her quickly, Sam realised that she was very tired. "_The chick in that egg will hatch to be a Polienix. Please take care of her_." She nudged the egg forward once more, settling down more firmly on the other two eggs.

Sam stretched out two shaky hands, bringing the egg closer to his body. It was about the size of his fists put together, small, as far as Pokémon eggs went. He quickly tucked the egg under his shirt, to warm it with his own body heat. Lady nodded once, and Sam could almost feel a wave of relief exuding from her._ "I wish you luck, young human. May your hatching precede a great flight."_

Sam sighed, hand flickering to his backpack again. He had checked it often on the journey to the airport. It was still safe, snug in an egg capsule lent to him by Professor Rowan. His mother noticed his hand movement and smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"The egg will be fine. You have the care manual for flying type eggs, just get it checked over by the Nurse in the Pokémon Centre in Dictioy."

"I will." Sam nodded, looking down into his mother's eyes. The last people were going through the gate now. Quickly, he hugged his mother goodbye, fighting down the burning in his throat and eyes. Turning from her, he ruffled his younger brother's hair, pulling him into a quick hug.

"Be good Dan." He said, before doing the same thing to his other brother. His youngest sister was met with a hug that lifted her from the ground. She let out a quiet sob, rubbing at her eyes.

"I'll be back, don't worry." Sam said gently, barely keeping his own tears in. Putting his sister down, he let out a ragged breath and looked at his mother again. She hugged him a second time, her eyes glistening with tears.

"Be careful." She said firmly. "And give me a call once you're over there. Don't forget to save our phone numbers to the C-Gear they'll give you."

"I won't, don't worry." Sam replied, giving a small smile. She hugged him once more, before he turned around, and quickly walked out of sight of his family, the first steps on his new adventure.

The next few hours were far less glamorous than he had envisioned them to be in his head. While a flight to Dictioy was still technically a domestic flight, the flight company demanded he give very good reasons as to why he was travelling. Once he was on the plane, he gave a sigh, sinking in to the airplane seat he had been given. The International League spared no expenses, he was in first class, so he had plenty of room. He still felt slightly squished though. There was a small television screen in front of him, which linked to several television shows and movies supplied by the flight company.

"Excuse me, are you Mister Samuel Sapphire?" A clear voice sounded suddenly to his right. Jumping upright in his chair, Sam turned to find someone looking at him. From the looks of it, they were part of the flight crew.

"Yes?"

"I apologise sir, I didn't mean to startle you. I am Captain Andrews. I have been asked by a representative of the International League to give you this pack, with my compliments." He held out a small folder to Sam, who accepted it, puzzlement clear on his face.

"They couldn't have asked a flight attendant?" Sam questioned.

"Apparently not sir, I think the representative enjoys making higher officials cater to the winners." Captain Andrews answered with a straight face, but a humoured glimmer in his eyes. "Congratulations on your win. If you have any questions on the contents of the folder, a direct line to the relevant branch of the International League has been supplied for you on a card. You may ring from your entertainment terminal." He waved towards the small screen.

"I see... Thank you, you can go back to flying the plane now." Sam said, giving the captain a smile. Captain Andrews nodded in reply, walking back towards the front of the plane.

Now curious, Sam looked down at the tan folder in his lap. About to open it, he paused, setting it down on his lap again. He instead reached for his backpack, bringing out the egg capsule and setting it on a small alcove near the entertainment terminal. Once he made sure it was secure, he looked out the window and at the tarmac. A jolt shuddered through the plane as the engines were started. Feeling Butterfrees in his stomach, Sam inhaled deeply. The rest of the takeoff didn't take long, and once they were in the air, Sam turned back to the contents of the folder.

_To Mr S Sapphire  
>Congratulations again on your win. We have instructed flight officials to gift you with this pack, which contains the remaining information about the Pokémon Newspaper Contest. As a winner, you will be asked to deal with some Media Representatives. Furthermore, we are extending certain privileges to the winners of this year's contest, as outlined in the package. Please keep in mind that these privileges are entirely optional, and reliant on your consent.<em>

Sam skimmed through the rest of the introductory letter, which basically outlined the things he had agreed to when he had entered the contest. Turning to the second page, he grinned a small, satisfied smirk.

_The three participating Pokémon Leagues this year are the Metone Pokémon League, the Southern Island Pokémon League and the Dictioy Pokémon League. Each league has supplied three of their regional starting Pokémon for selection. Please note that you may not get the Pokémon you desire, as each winner will be able to select their Pokémon based on their ranking within the contest. The tenth place winner will be gifted with the final Pokémon which was not picked by the previous nine, and will also be given a guided tour of the Comed Town Laboratory by Professor Willow. The available Pokémon are as follows:_

_Fantan  
>Sparkid<br>Monswoon  
>Treecko<br>Torchic  
>Mudkip<br>Qizret  
>Senvar<br>Frezint  
>Pichu<em>

_Attached are individual portraits of the ten Pokémon. Each has been provided by official league agencies. _

Sam flipped over the pages, scanning through the information. Fantan, Sparkid and Monswoon from the starters of the Metone region. 'Region' was a relative term, as Metone consisted of one of the entire southern continents of the world. It was famous for its unusual amount of poison type Pokémon, as well as natural wonders such as an immense sandstone rock in one of the central deserts.

Treecko, Torchic and Mudkip, on the other hand, were from Southern Islands. Sam had already interacted with these three once, but hadn't seen them since, as per Professor Rowan's orders. They were famous species' though, because of how easy they were to raise.

Dictioy's contribution broke away from the traditional water-fire-grass trios that many other Pokémon League regions had adopted. Senvar was a dark type Pokémon, while Qizret was a psychic type. Frezint was an unusual contribution though, replacing Dictioy's fighting type starter, Machop. Frezint had an Ice and Dragon dual type, making it very resistant to most other Pokémon elemental types.

Pichu was also the obvious contribution. Sam didn't know of anyone who DIDN'T know what a Pichu was. The Pichu family was found worldwide, and had been the signature of Ash Ketchum for several years.

_In addition to these Pokémon, each winner will be supplied with a Pokémon Training Kit. These kits are supplied by several International League Supporters, such as Silph Corporation, Devon Corporati- _Sam skimmed the rest of the names_. These kits include the following items:_

_1 Trainer License  
>1 C-Gear<br>20 Pokéballs  
>10 Greatballs<br>5 Ultraballs  
>1 Masterball (Awarded upon successful completion of the Diamond League Challenge)<em>

Sam raised an eyebrow at the entry on Masterballs. He hadn't been aware that the contestants were given Masterballs, but it seemed the requirements for it were good. Most trainers gave up on their journey after their fifth or sixth Pokémon Gym Challenge. More determined trainers would last the full stretch, earning a ranking in the Diamond League Tournament; though the numbers of trainers tapered off again after they completed their second league. Still, Masterballs were a huge expense to give to beginner Trainers. He could only hope he didn't accidentally catch a Pidgey or something with his...

Sam spent the next hours going through the information package, finding out as much as he could. As the third place winner, he was third to choose his Pokémon. Idly, he wondered how the Mudkip had been in the two months since he had last seen it, but he quickly dismissed that though. The Frezint was his choice, with Mudkip being his second. If worst came to worst, he would then choose either the Sparkid or Monswoon, though he wasn't sure on either.

When Sam looked up next, the plane was above Comed Town. While Comed Town wasn't huge by any standards, it had a small airport. Leaving the airport was slightly stressful, as officials began to question him heavily over his possession of a Polienix egg, Polienix being extremely endangered species. It took a call to International League Headquarters before Sam was allowed to pass, and before he knew it, he was in his hotel room, looking up at the ceiling. Comed Town definitely wasn't big enough to have a 5-star hotel, but it was still nice. After a quick shower, Sam looked at the clock. It was 5pm, so he had plenty of time to head to the Pokémon Centre. After getting changed into comfortable clothes, he checked to make sure he had his hotel room keys on him and left the room, carrying the egg in its capsule.

The hotel was attached to the conference centre where the award ceremony would be held the next day. The Pokémon Centre was about five or six blocks away, Sam noted as he looked at a map in the lobby. Mentally sketching the path he needed to go, he frowned when he saw the closing times of the facilities. It seemed the Pokémon Centre here closed unusually early, at about 5:30pm. That meant he had to hurry. Turning he ran out the door, keeping a firm hold on the egg capsule as he jogged. By the time he arrived, he was covered in a slight sweat, and the Chansey behind the desk seemed to be about to shut down things.

"Hi." Sam panted. "Need... this... egg... checked... Had a flight." He inhaled deeply and swallowed. In response, the Chansey smiled at him kindly, taking the egg capsule from his arms and pressing a button. While they waited for the nurse, the Chansey gently removed the egg from the capsule. After inspecting it for a moment, she pressed the button twice with a worried look on her face. A few seconds later, Nurse Joy appeared from a hallway, seeming to have hurried from wherever she had been at the second summons.

"Chansey?" She enquired. In response, Chansey pointed to the egg. Nurse Joy looked at Sam curiously for a moment, before bending down to inspect the egg. When she straightened up again, she had a stony look on her face. "Might I enquire as to where you got this egg?" She said stiffly.

Sam sighed. "I got it from my sister's Anticairon. Just a moment." He patted down his pockets, reaching into his left one when he found something. "Here." He handed her a piece of paper.

The paper was a small card, signed by Professor Rowan which gave authorisation that Sam was able to carry the rare egg. When Nurse Joy took it, a small light lit up, and a holographic image of Professor Rowan appeared. "The bearer of this card, Samuel James Sapphire of Mist City, is authorised to possess a Polienix egg and train the Pokémon born from it." The image of Professor Rowan then changed to a 3-D image of Sam, showing the Nurse what he looked like. Sam glared down at the redheaded image of himself.. He hated photos being taken of himself. 3-D images seemed worse, somehow.

Nurse Joy had a final test to conduct, however. She slotted the card into a machine. When a small light turned green, she smiled. "I apologise Sam. We need to do these checks however, to protect certain Pokémon from poachers."

"That's okay." Sam replied. "I just need to get the egg checked out. I had a short flight from Mist City to here, but my mother recommended I get it checked to ensure the chick wasn't hurt by the changing in altitude during flight."

Nurse Joy smiled, nodding. "Your mother gave you good advice. Chansey, would you be able to check the egg please?" Giving a happy reply, the Chansey took the egg into the room behind the desk. "Would you like to come in for the inspection?"

Sam nodded eagerly. "Yes please."

"Excellent. Come this way." She waved him around the desk, following the Chansey into the room, which turned out to be a basic hospital bay. The Chansey had his egg on the table, and was gently turning it to inspect its surface.

"Chansey is just inspecting the shell for any cracks or weaknesses." Nurse Joy explained, coming up besides the pink Pokémon. When the Chansey tapped gently on the side of the shell, Nurse Joy chuckled at the look on Sam's face. "It's a common habit of flying Pokémon. If the chick is near to hatching, it will sometimes tap back." The egg Pokémon interrupted with a questioning tone to Nurse Joy. Looking around, Nurse Joy spied a stethoscope close to Sam. "Would you please pass me the stethoscope? It's the implement there, by your right hip."

Sam looked around wildly, before finding the correct spot. Picking it up, he handed it to Nurse Joy who promptly put them on. She gently placed the chestpiece on the shell, moving it rapidly over the egg. After a moment, she removed it, and then waved for Chansey to continue.

"The chick doesn't appear to be in distress. It responded as normal when Chansey tapped on it. It has a few more weeks before it will be ready to hatch though." She eyed the scale Chansey had placed it on. "Weight seems normal for this stage of development, in my opinion, it's fine." Chansey had placed the egg back in the capsule while Nurse Joy had been speaking. "It seems well taken care of so far, was it recently separated from its mother?"

Sam nodded. "It, uh... Her mother is dying. My sister is taking care of this one's two siblings, but the mother asked me to take care of this one. She knew I was about to leave on a Pokémon Journey."

Nurse Joy nodded, and then knowledge sparked. "Ah, you're one of the ten contest winners then. In that case..." She left the room, returning after a moment with a small book in hand. "Since you're a beginning trainer, I would ask you to read this manual. It goes over basic care for baby Pokémon."

Sam accepted the book. "I did complete a course back home before I left, so I do know some of what to do, but this book would be great, just in case. Thank you." He looked down at the cover, noting wryly that it had been written by Professor Elder, a Pokémon Professor who was famous for Pokémon Breeding. He started when Nurse Joy put another book into his hand, this one slightly larger and written by Professor Rowan Junior.

"I don't usually do this, but yours is an unusual case. Professor Elder's book is very thorough, but it doesn't really cover rarer Pokémon. This second book does, and it's my personal copy. I would ask that you return this once your baby Pokémon is about three months old. Past that, ordinary measures may be followed."

Sam nodded again, frowning down at the book. Opening it to the index, he raised an eyebrow at the list of contents. It listed, among others, how to raise members of species such as Articuno, Groudon, and intensely rare Pokémon, such as Lapras. Books like these were hard to find, and Sam knew that Nurse Joy was making a sacrifice lending it to him, especially in her profession.  
>Then an idea came to Sam, one that was very simple.<p>

"Why don't we just photocopy the relevant pages?"

Nurse Joy looked at him, stunned, and then laughed, a noise infectious enough that Sam began to smile and laugh as well.

A few minutes later, Sam left the Pokémon Centre with the egg capsule and a small stack of papers. In addition to the pages on Polienix, he had also asked for the pages on some Legendary Pokémon such as Articuno. He wasn't likely to encounter that book again, nor was he likely to encounter Articuno, but he was curious as to how he could look after one.

The walk back to the hotel was much nicer than the dash to it. Comed was a small town, but quite green. Sam had only stopped once on his walk, to let a small trio of Plusle cross the footpath into the bushes next to it. Once he was back in the hotel room, he ordered dinner, compliments of the International League, and spent the rest of the night relaxing, reading the book Nurse Joy had given him, trying to keep his mind off of the ceremony tomorrow, where his new life would truly begin.

With a start, Sam came to. A feeling of dread filled him, and he looked at the clock. His heart calmed when he did. It was only 7:30am, the ceremony didn't begin until 9am. A quick shower, breakfast and he was ready to go, with half an hour to spare. Scanning the room one last time to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything, he left, closing the door behind him. As he turned, he bumped into a boy his own age, but much more solid in build.

"Woah!" Sam yelped, knocked off balance. Steadying himself on the wall, he looked at who he had just run into. "I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going."

The boy grinned in reply. Blond hair, cut a medium length, was smoothed down and slightly damp, he must have just taken a shower as well. A ragged backpack on his back hinted that, like Sam, he was one of the ten winners.

"No worries mate." He said cheerfully. "You here for the contest?"

"Yes, I am." Sam answered, trying to place the boy's accent. He was from Kanto, from what he could tell, but he wasn't quite sure. He could just as easily be from Johto. "I'm Sam." He extended his hand.

The boy grabbed it, shaking it firmly. "Nick. I'm from Saffron City."

Kanto then, Sam thought. "I'm from Mist City, on Southern Island." Southern Island wasn't well known outside of the Hoenn region. It was considered a League on the same level as the Orange Islands, with only four gyms. When Nick grinned again, Sam smiled back. "I went there once with my family. Mum works for Silph Co., and they sent her there to test a product, paid vacation, she wasn't gonna pass it up."

"Of course." They fell in beside one another, walking down the hallway. "So what did you write your essay on?"

Nick grimaced. "Pokémon and Human Relations in Oore."

Sam winced himself. "Ouch, that was one of the worst topics. I just picked the question on Legendary Pokémon."

Nick thought for a moment. "I don't think I remember that one. Um... Something about how their capture should result in a death sentence except in extreme circumstances?"

"That's the one." Sam replied, pressing the button for the elevator. When the door opened, they were confronted with the sight of a young girl their own age who appeared to have a Frezint on her head. An awkward silence stretched between them, while Sam and Nick tried to process what was going on.

"Well? Are you getting in?" The girl said irritably.

"Yeah..." Nick said slowly, eyes still fixed on the Frezint. "Um, you do know th-."

The girl scowled. "Yes, I know it's there. If you can make it come down, you're doing better than me." The doors closed behind Sam and Nick.

Sam cleared his throat. "It's a Frezint, they do that when they find things they like." He eyed the perching baby dragon, who blew a gust of cold air at him.

"Frez, frezint, frez. Zint zint, frez!" It said to Sam. Nick snickered, but Sam just looked confused. When Sam looked at him, Nick pointed to his ears, showing a small device in his ear like an ear bud.

"PokéTrans, the cheap version." He said. "Only good for certain regions. He said he won't perch on you, since your hair would probably hurt him."

Sam tugged on a red lock. "Always one in every room who makes a redhead joke." He muttered. The elevator dinged at that moment, opening on the ground floor, which was bustling with media representatives in one area, International League officials in another. When the girl, Nick and Sam left the elevator, one of the officials rushed over, looking intensely relieved.

"You found him! Thank Mew." She said, going to grab the Frezint. In response, the Frezint growled, baring white fangs. She backed away hesitantly. "On second thoughts, can he stay there until later?"

The girl groaned, rolling her eyes. "I really don't want him to."

"Frezint! Frez, frez zint zint zint." Said the Frezint. Sam looked questioningly at Nick.

"He says he'll return to the others, so long as he can take her removable plumage with him." Nick translated.

The girl stared at him. "My what?"

"I think he means your beanie." Sam offered, looking at the space between the girl and the Frezint.

"Oh." She looked up. "Yeah, okay then."

The Frezint nodded happily and took off, taking the beanie with him. He landed in the outstretched arms of the official, who sighed in relief.

"Great. I'll return this little guy to the others." She said. "You three should head to that room over there. The winners will be there until the ceremony." She walked off with the Frezint in hand, who was now wearing the girl's beanie as a strange sort of helmet.

"Thanks." The girl said, turning back to Nick and Sam. "I'm Katrina."

"Sam."

"Nick."

"Let's head off then." She suggested, moving towards the room the official had pointed out. Sam and Nick followed her to the room. As Sam entered, he felt several pairs of eyes on his small group. It seemed like they were the last to arrive. Sam looked around, spotting a chair near the door to sit down on. He slid into it as Nick spied a table with a small assortment of snacks, which he promptly dived on. Katrina looked torn between doing the same thing, but instead, sat next to Sam.

"Sorry about before." She murmured, her voice sounding loud in the quiet room. She reddened as the others looked at her.

Sam smiled. "It's okay, it's not your fault. Mind if I ask a question though?"

"Shoot."

"What's with your hair?" He pointed to her bangs, which were a deep purple colour.

Katrina sighed, looking up at them. "Now you see why I wore the beanie. My mother used 'Espeon' colour dye when she was pregnant with me. It was for a play." She said, in response to the look Sam gave her.

"Espeon colour dye... That was made by Bella Industries, wasn't it? Wasn't there a lawsuit over some of their products?" Sam asked, genuinely curious.

Katrina nodded. "This," She tugged on her purple bangs. "-was the reason. They didn't test their products properly. Some kids were born with powers from the Pokémon they took the dye from, others had colouring they weren't meant to. So, it went to court and they got shut down, and I'm left with this."

"Right." Sam said. "And the clothes?" Her clothes were mostly black, with a few chains here and there.

"They fit the beanie."

"Ah."

"Yeah."

The conversation lapsed after that. Glancing up at the clock, Sam saw there were only a few minutes left before they would go in. The Butterfrees in his stomach had come back, making Sam shift uncomfortably in his seat.

Two minutes.

One minute.

"Would the ten contest winners please report to the main hall?"

This was it. Nervously, Sam stood, picking up his schoolbag. Looking down at it, he panicked as he realised how stupid it looked. And he had a Polienix egg in it! What if they disqualified him for having an endangered Pokémon? And what if-!

He got nudged forward. Looking behind him, he saw nine, very impatient teenagers waiting for him to leave the door he was blocking. Smiling sheepishly, he led the group out of the room, and into the ceremony room.

* * *

><p>Pokédex:<p>

Fantan, the Fern Pokémon  
>Native to the Metone Region, Fantan is most famous for being the grass starter of the country. It absorbs sunlight through its skin, and in times of danger, may root itself into the ground to hide.<br>Evolves at Level 17 to Rezofan

Sparkid, the Fire Kid Pokémon  
>This Pokémon runs everywhere in an attempt to break its horns, which grow back sharper each time. An internal fire-sac makes this Pokémon very warm at all times. Because it gives off flames when it walks, it marks its territory by leaving hoof-shaped scorch marks everywhere.<br>Evolves at Level 20 to Caprikaos

Monswoon, the Sea Snake Pokémon  
>Despite this Pokémon having four legs, it rarely uses them in the water. Instead, it undulates its body to swim. It prefers to nest under trees which grow into water. This Pokémon was once the subject of terrifying stories in olden days.<br>Evolves at Level 16 to Tyswoon

Polienix, the Blue Bird Pokémon  
>A small bird type who prefers to flock in small groups of three or four. It is not uncommon to see a lone Polienix. The feathers of these Pokémon are thought to give clarity and good luck, resulting in a decline in numbers in recent years.<br>It is Unknown when and how it evolves.

Anticairon, the Serendipity Pokémon  
>A Pokémon that is rumoured to be impossible to catch. On rare occasions, it has been known to choose to accompany a human. Meeting this Pokémon is said to bring good fortune.<br>Evolves from Polienix

Qizret, the Quiz Pokémon  
>A psychic Pokémon native to Dictioy. This Pokémon is capable of human speech, but only speaks in riddles. If its trainer is unable to answer its riddles regularly, this Pokémon may grow frustrated and resentful.<br>Evolves at Level 18 to Telexam

Senvar, the Black Teddy Pokémon  
>The adorable looks of this Pokémon have made it popular across the world. A common behaviour of this Pokémon is to grow attached to a stuffed animal or doll, and treat it like its own child. If threatened, this Pokémon will resort to underhanded techniques to win.<br>Evolves at Level 16 to Bjarn

Frezint, the Sentinal Pokémon  
>This Pokémon is known to perch atop items, people and Pokémon it deems interesting, and will protect them with its life. It may rebel against any trainer who does not first prove they are trustworthy, or who it does not imprint upon.<br>Evolves at high happiness to Frozent


	3. Chapter 3: Final Preparations

Pokemon ©1995-2012 Nintendo, GAME FREAK Inc, Creatures Inc.  
>Janera and all related creatures, items and landforms ©2002-2012 Obsidian Blade<br>Metone and all related creatures, items and landforms ©2002-2012 TopazSoarhire  
>Dictioy and all related creatures, items and landforms ©2004-2012 Articunomew<p>

* * *

><p><em>I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly,<br>I'll do what it takes until I touch the sky.  
>So I'll make a wish, take a chance, make a change,<br>And break away._

_Out of the darkness and into the sun,  
>But I won't forget all the ones that I love,<br>I'll take a risk, take a chance, take a change,  
>And break away.<em>

_Wanna feel the warm breeze, sleep under a palm tree,  
>Feel the rush of the ocean.<br>Get onboard a fast train, travel on a jet plane, far away,  
>And break away.<em>

_Breakaway  
>performed by Kelly Clarkson<em>

The hall the ceremony was being held in wasn't that large. Most of the space was taken up by a small pen which contained the ten young Pokémon who were about to receive their first trainers. As the ten winners entered the room, all attention became focused on them, from the media representatives to the small assortment of important public officials, both human and Pokémon. Eyes kept resolutely ahead, Sam led the way to the ten chairs near the front of the room which had been reserved for the winners. Walking along the row of chairs, he stopped at a chair third from the end, where his name was printed on a small card. Removing it, he sat down and looked at the other winners. To his surprise, Katrina sat on his left, seat of the second place winner. Nick was two seats to his right, sixth place. The quiet murmurings of the room fell silent as the ceremony began.

Professor Willow got to her feet. A short, thin woman, she had been a national representative gymnast during her younger years. Now, she was an expert on Pokémon Statistics, the study of how strong individual species of Pokémon were in comparison to others.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the twenty-first annual International League Pokémon Trainer Contest. This year, we had a number of impressive essays entered into the competition, but only ten were selected to receive the final awards." She paused for a moment as a spattering of polite applause broke out. Once it died down, she continued. "I would ask that all applause be held until the end. This year, we had a number of interesting essay topics, and these ten young people responded with thoughtful essays, outlining their views. This topics ranged from the conservation of traditional Safari Zones, to the limited research conducted on human abilities as opposed to Pokémon." She paused to clear her throat, taking a small sip of water from a glass on the podium, and then swept ear length brown hair back. "As I am sure our contestants and their future partners are impatient to begin the selection process, we will begin to announce the winners."

A man walked up the microphone, replacing Professor Willow. An eccentric looking man, Professor Bean represented Metone. Sam wasn't entirely sure what he studied, exactly, or whether he was a Professor in the traditional sense. Professor Bean had personally discovered many new Pokémon species in the Metonian Outback though, more than any other Professor, who would rely on the Trainers they watched over to find new Pokémon for them to study. It looked like Professor Bean hadn't shaved in a few days, judging from the beginnings of a beard forming over his cheeks. Leaning into the microphone, he spoke with an irritating drawl, probably played up for the representatives of the different regions. Sam's own family was from Metone, but had relocated when his mother had been offered the job of Gym Leader in Mist City. Psychic-type experts were rare enough that a league would pay a lot of money to get one. He and his family still had the remains of a Metonian accent, though Sam's was refined enough that most people mistook him for a member of other regions.

"In first place, we have Thomas of Snowpoint City, Sinnoh!" Professor Bean called out, his voice blasting from the speakers at almost deafening volume. Thomas stood and walked over to the pen of the baby Pokémon. Some had been sleeping, but all were awake now after Professor Bean's announcement. They seemed to inspecting Thomas as closely as he inspected them. He reached down, and Sam sighed with relief. Thomas had chosen Senvar, the dark type teddy-bear Pokémon which was native to Dictioy. He then walked up to the stage, his new starter in hand, where he was given a black backpack to compliment Senvar's elemental type.

"In second place, we have Katrina, from Pallet Town, Kanto!" Sam blinked in surprise, she was from Pallet Town? He quickly corrected himself. Pallet Town had grown quickly in the twenty years since Ash had become International Champion, to the point where it was now bigger than Pewter City, home to the first Pokémon Gym of Kanto. There were talks of Pallet Town being renamed, but those were only rumours.  
>Katrina walked resolutely to the pen, her blond and purple hair forming a stark contrast to her black clothing. Sam held his breath as she leaned over, paused and then continued. When she straightened up again, her hands were full of wriggling Mudkip. Sam bit down a wave of disappointment as she accepted her backpack, this one brown.<p>

"In third place, Sam of Mist City, Southern Island!" Sam started, slightly lost in his thoughts. Automatically he stood and walked over to the pen. The Torchic seemed to recognise him, as it released an agitated cry and attempted to tackle him, running into the side of the pen as it did. The Treecko did nothing other than lazily salute him from its position in a sunbeam. The other Pokémon were more curious in Sam though. When Sam reached a hand down into the pen, the baby Pokémon swarmed around it. Sparkid pushed under his palm for a head scratch, bleating in joy when Sam found the right spot. Monswoon curled its neck around his wrist when he moved past it, licking his hand gently before letting go. Qizret simply stared at him. Feeling a gentle probe in his mind, Sam extended his telepathic abilities, greeting the young Pokémon. It blinked in surprise, and then nodded its head, giving its own greeting. The Pichu was next. It grabbed his hand with its own paws, sniffing him intently. It gave a small cry of happiness, sending a small jolt into Sam which made his hair stand on end. Fantan ignored him from his position next to Treecko in the sun beam. The last Pokémon was the Frezint, who was still wearing Katrina's beanie. It looked at Sam solemnly, seeming not to remember who he was. When Sam reached for it, the Frezint started, scrambling back a little. Sam halted, wondering if that meant Frezint was rejecting him. Sometimes the Pokémon rejected the trainer at the ceremony. This wasn't often a problem, though last year the tenth place winner had been rejected by his Pokémon, spraying him with water when it had been handled a bit too roughly. The two had been left with each other though, for reasons that Sam couldn't remember.  
>Timidly, Frezint walked forward, into Sam's grasp, looking up at Sam through the small eye holes it had made in the beanie. Sam gently settled his hands around the young Pokémon, lifting him. Feeling the shift in altitude, Frezint instinctively flapped its wings. Realising he had taken an unusually long time in comparison to the first two, Sam walked up to the stage, receiving a backpack which was a strange shimmer that was both blue and purple. Sam looked at it, pondering the exact shade, but gave up. He returned to his seat, the Frezint on his lap, bag under his chair. The Mudkip patted Sam's leg a few times when he was seated, giving him a wide grin when he looked at it. Sam smiled back, while the Frezint was now beginning to tug at the chain on Katrina's pants.<p>

The next two contests, from Holon and Janera, respectively chose Treecko and Sparkid as their starters. Sam caught Nick's eye, noting the disappointed look the other boy had. Now that it was his turn to choose, he walked to the pen where Torchic, Pichu, Qizret, Monswoon and Fantan still waited to be chosen. Nick chose the Pichu, and receive an electric shock for his troubles. By the time he had sat down with a golden coloured backpack, his previously flat hair was all on end. The next to choose was a young boy from Poligem, about eleven, who was rejected by Fantan. He looked on the verge of crying when the Monswoon seemed to choose him, jumping over the side of the pen to hug him. Crisis averted, the Fantan went to the next trainer, a girl from Metone. The ninth contestant chose the Qizret when it made the choice to talk to him, breaking the silence it had established with the previous winners. The final contestant was given the Torchic, and money to compensate for not being given a choice.

Professor Bean stepped down from the podium, his role in the ceremony complete. Now Professor Rowan was in charge. "Congratulations to the ten winners, may you meet success in your journey with your new friend." The audience began to applaud, and Sam felt himself redden slightly. He looked down at Frezint who stared up at him, giving a small shrug. Sam shrugged back, looking back up as Professor Rowan began to talk. Frezint began to gnaw on Sam's pinkie finger gently, as if inspecting him for taste.

"Due to increasing security demands, the International League has put into place a mentor program this year. Experienced Pokémon trainers have volunteered to be a part of this program, acting as a mentor and guide for our new trainers for the first stage of their journeys. Once they have arrived at their first gym, the Mentors may leave, or choose to continue their Pokémon journeys with the new trainers. I will now introduce the trainers. From Hoenn, we have Brendan and May Birch."

Sam's eyes focused intently at the two people who were walking up to the stage. Brendan and May Birch were twins, the children of Brendan Birch and May Ulysses, who were famous in their own right, Brendan Birch for his work in Pokémon Abilities, and May for being the travel companion of Ash Ketchum, and an Internationally classes contestant. Their children were considered serious candidates for important positions with Hoenn as Gym leaders and (rumours had it) an Elite Four position for May.

"From Sinnoh, we have Maylene, on sabbatical from her position as Gym leader of Veilstone." More applause, with slight whistle. Sam nodded, impressed that the International League was going to this effort. "From Johto, we have Joey, also on sabbatical from his position as Gym Leader of Cherrygrove." Snickers sounded out among the applause. Wearily, Joey scaled the pedestal, seemingly used to the laughter. "And lastly, we have Violet Oak, from Kanto." A final round of applause, which Professor Rowan cut short by holding up a hand. "We would ask that each beginner trainer pair up with someone else among the group. A roulette will be held later today to assign a mentor to your pairing."

The ceremony began to draw to an end just as Frezint began to get more insistent in his chewing. Sam had a morbid flashback to Indy, his pet Growlithe, who also went through a chewing stage when much younger. The crowd then took a break for lunch, luckily for Sam, who now had three small puncture marks in the flesh of his hand. Once that was over, there was a media interview, and then the ten winners were given a few hours free time. The next day they would be released upon the unsuspecting region of Dictioy, battling their way across it.

Sam and Nick had decided to pair up, as their Pokémon seemed to get along well. The Frezint, now named Dirden and the Pichu, now called Sparx, were beginning to cooperate, with Dirden lifting the small mouse Pokémon to greater heights by flying. Sparx on the other hand was able to get into spaces that Dirden could not. Sam could envision that this would not end well for himself or Nick, but for now it was fun. The only issue seemed to be that Dirden didn't really want to listen to him, judging from the blank looks he gave the boy whenever he said something.

Now that Sam's Trainer Card had been activated in the International Database, he was allowed to use the high class PokéTrans he had brought with him from Southern Island. As he was leaving the bathroom where he had been replacing the earring stud he had before, he was nearly bowled over by Dirden who was in hot pursuit of Sparx.

"Hey." Nick said, looking at him from where he was stretched out on the lounge. "Is it working?"

"I don't know." Sam said slowly, prodding the small machine with his finger. "Hey Dirden, can you say something?"

"_I will claim your life and use your hair to make a nest to attract chilly mates!_"

Sam looked at Dirden in amazement as Nick burst into laughter. "Aren't you too young to be thinking about that?"

"_Oh, you heard me._.."

Sam shooked his head. "Anyway, it seems to work." He looked down at Sparx dubiously. "Too bad you won't be able to understand him for a while."

Certain Pokémon species seemed to have a strange ability to resist being translated. The majority of 'baby' Pokémon, such as Pichu, Azurill and Budew, fit into this category. There wasn't a scientifically explained reason yet, but the general consensus was that they weren't old enough to have a grasp of language, even their own. Adult Pokémon couldn't really understand them that often either.

"Yeah, I'll get by." Nick replied lazily, pulling a small pecha berry from his pocket. Sparx halted where he was, Dirden promptly knocking into him. Once he corrected himself, he joyfully ran up to Nick, climbing up the lounge chair to grab the offered pecha berry. Dirden looked at Sam expectantly. Glaring at Nick, Sam shook his head.

"Great, now I have a standard to live up to."

Nick shrugged. "Not my fault you don't have my raw Pokémon magnetism... And bribes."

Sam looked down at Dirden. "I don't have anything right now, but we can grab something when we go out shopping?"

Dirden nodded, seeming to accept this took flight, landing on Sam's shoulder. Sam hoped that this silence wouldn't continue. He had been talkative when he knew Sam couldn't understand him, but now he was just quiet.

"We should probably head out now." Sam said, looking at his new C-Gear.

Nick groaned, getting to his feet and scooping up Sparx as he went. Sparx squeaked in dismay as he fell over in Nick's arms, letting out a jolt that shocked both himself and Nick. A few seconds later, Nick had a stunned look on his face while his Pichu just looked confused.

"Are you ok?" Sam asked in concern. On his shoulder, Dirden let out a short snort which he assumed meant he was laughing.

"Yeah." Nick said, letting out a small groan. His body shuffled as he shook himself a little, throwing off the effects of the shock. "That wasn't fun."

"_Chu?_" Sparx said, reaching up and patting Nick as high as he could reach, which was only his collarbone.

"It's ok Sparx, I'm just not used to it." Nick reassured his baby Pokémon. Sparx sniffed a little, on the verge of tears, which cleared up the instant Nick offered him another pecha berry. "Ok, let's go." Nick said, ensuring he had his C-Gear on him before they left the Pokémon Center. They had taken the short walk to the Center, leaving the hotel in favour of spending their first night in a Pokémon Center. Some of the others had opted to remain in the private comforts of the hotel, some had not. Katrina had remained at the hotel though, from what Sam could remember, with her newly named Artemis in tow.

The best thing about a small town like Comed was that all the essential locations were close together. Only another two blocks from the Pokémon Center was a shopping mall, containing a Pokémart, as well as other normal shops. Their first stop was by the Pokémart, where they stocked up on some additional supplies for their Pokémon. The International League had supplied one lot of basic supplies, such as dried food and the like, but they were on their own past that. It was enough to get them to either Arw City, Romanc City or Rorroh Town, all three of which held Pokémon Gyms. Sam stocked up on some rare candies which were simple Pokémon treats which were highly nutritional, though didn't have the powerful properties that most people assigned to them. They very rarely have enough of an energy boost to cause a Pokémon to level or evolve. He also purchased some specialty clothing, using money he had received from his family before he had left for just this sort of thing. In the end, he had a trainer 'uniform' consisting of a light lavender shirt, over which he wore a blue, sleeveless, hooded shirt. He also wore full-length jeans, and just had basic running shoes, white and blue. An argument had escalated between Sam and Dirden when Dirden had wanted to claim an immense Lapras doll, an argument that only ended when Dirden was returned to his Pokéball.

Nick, on the other hand, seemed to be preparing for the worst case scenarios, stocking up on emergency first aid kits, campfire kits, books on Pokémon care and similar items. By the end, Sam was staring wide eyed at a stack of items that went from his knees to his neck.

"I am _not_ helping you to carry those back." Sam said resolutely.

"Aw, come on!"

"No, you don't need most of that stuff."

"Come on, I'll give you a pecha berry!

"Do I look like a Pichu to you?" Sparx looked over in alarm, as if to make sure Sam hadn't changed shape.

"... In the right light, I'm sure you might."

Sam shook his head. "I'm gonna duck into a pharmacy, need some cleaning sprays for my ear."

"Come on, two pecha berries?"

Rolling his eyes, Sam left the store and headed to the pharmacy. Four empty Pokéballs clinked gently on his belt, he had gotten excited to at least be like a _real_ trainer, as well as one Ultraball, just in case he saw some rare Pokémon out in the field. The trip to the pharmacy was quick, and the spray fairly cheap. It was only when he was leaving that he noticed anything unusual. A crashing sound rang out of the gap between the pharmacy and the next building, a female clothing store. Peeking his head around the corner, Sam was confronted with the image of a bushy brown tail waving from a trash can, its lid on the ground next to it, having made the crashing sound. Judging from the whimpers, whatever Pokémon it was was stuck in the bin. Walking over carefully, Sam looked cautiously into the bin. Hind legs waved at him, the whimpering turning into pained yelping. Giving a sigh, Sam reached into the bin, gently pulling on the small Pokémon who seemed to be stuck in some nameless sludge. The yelping changed from painful to terrified, and just as the Pokémon came free of the muck, its hind legs scored Sam across the forearm. He let go with a cry, instinctively clutching his arm to himself. The Pokémon looked at him quickly, before jumping from the trash can to the ground where it landed heavily with a thump. It howled in pain again, before taking off with a stagger. Sam frowned, trying to remember why that strange gait looked so familiar, before it hit him. Indy, his pet Growlithe, had run like that when he had hurt his leg. Whatever this Pokémon was, it was hurt, and almost certainly a wild Pokémon.

Sam took off after it, trying to ignore the throbbing in his forearm. He glanced at it quickly, grimacing as he saw three deep scratches. If the Pokémon lived on the street, they were likely to get infected as well. Pushing that thought from his head, he chased the Pokémon, steadily gaining on it when it dashed up a dark alley and out of sight. Sam stopped as he reached the mouth of the alley, panting slightly from the run. He took a step towards the end of the alley when a strong wind blew at him, accompanied by a crack of thunder. The Pokémon he was chasing ran past him as fast as it could, giving Sam a brief glance of it. It was an Eevee, fairly young from what he could tell. His attention was brought back to the alley when a thin mist poured out of it, coalescing into cloud-like Pokémon. It was a Nymbis, a water/flying cloud type. Usually they didn't come down this low, especially in a colder region like Dictioy, but it sometimes happened. It sparked ominously, slowly approaching Sam. He backed away, looking around wildly for something to help him, when he recalled the events of that moment. He snapped Dirden's Pokéball from his belt, releasing the small dragon type. Dirden quickly took assessment of the situation, from Sam's now dripping arm, to the Nymbis. Opening his mouth, a blast of frigid air soared between him and the Nymbis, forcing the Nymbis into a thicker form to try and prevent its body from turning to ice. Sam groped at his belt, pulling at another Pokéball. Dirden was at a disadvantage here, since Nymbis couldn't be hit directly, nor would it be easy to freeze it. The only option was to catch it or run. Blindly, Sam threw the first Pokéball he felt, mentally swearing to himself when he saw a flash of yellow, black and white... The Ultraball.

It sailed through the air, right on target, a skill Sam had learnt during the Advanced Training class. He expected it to go right through the cloud, but was surprised when the Ultraball froze in midair. The Nymbis turned red, into the energy form that Pokémon became when a Pokéball was involved. In less than five seconds, it was over. The Ultraball had made short work on the capture, being far more suited to Pokémon much stronger than a Nymbis.

Sam grinned as he looked down at the Ultraball, before memory rushed back to him. The Eevee! Grabbing the Ultraball with his good hand, he breathlessly turned to Dirden. "We need to keep going. Can you fly? I don't think i can carry you."

Dirden answered by spreading his wings, taking flight. Sam turned on his heel, running up the passage the Eevee had gone. He emerged into an intersection of alleys behind the mall, surrounded by trash cans and litter. He looked around in confusion, before the quiet sounds of whimpering reached his ears. He turned, walking down the right alley, the shortest, stopping when he came to a bin at the end. The Eevee was curled into a ball, shaking violently.

"Hey, it's going to be ok." Sam said quietly in a gentle voice. He crouched down to the Eevee's level. Dirden fluttered overhead, gently bringing himself to the ground with a light thump. The Eevee didn't respond, except to keep whimpering. Looking it over, Sam found the source of its pain. An ugly wound, tinged green around the edge and sluggishly bleeding was on the Eevee's left foreleg. White could be seen in the wound, bone. Sam's eyes widened, as he realised the extremity of the Eevee's wound. The running had likely weakened it severely, and the infection was being spread through the Eevee's bloodstream. Sam hesitantly reached out his arms, the scratches burning to remind him the existed. He stopped for a moment, before gently touching the back of the Eevee. It responded far faster than he anticipated, turning to bite down on his hand. He bit his lip to contain his yell, knowing this would make it far worse. As blood welled around the Eevee's teeth, he opened his mouth. "I'm not going to hurt you, I promise. Dirden, can you please help me?"

Dirden padded forward, looking down at the Eevee. "_Greetings Fox of the fields. You have my word that this human will not hurt you. If unnecessary pain comes to you, I will take it upon myself to defend you._"

The Eevee looked at Dirden with wide eyes, its jaw slackening slightly. When Sam unconsciously tried to shift the hand away, the Eevee tightened its grip.

"I only want to help you." Sam said, trying to think through the fog of pain in his head.

The Eevee held on for a few more seconds, before letting go, sinking down on the ground, eyes closing halfway. Sam reached forward again, picking the Eevee up and taking care not to bump its wound. Then he stood, looking down at Dirden. "Thank you Dirden. Would you like to return to your Pokéball?"

"_I will escort you and the Fox to the Pokémon Center. I must keep my word that you will not unduly hurt her._" That stung, and Sam inhaled, trying not to cry after the pain and that particularly jabbing remark.

"Ok. I'll try and go as fast as possible." He said coolly, turning on his heel. He knew he shouldn't be angry at Dirden, he was of equivalent maturity to a nine or ten year old human, but he had effectively said that he didn't trust Sam, breaking an illusion that the boy had that your starter was meant to trust you without question. Sam was a friendly boy, it hurt when people suspected him without a reason.

Dirden swooped past Sam, leading the way out of the maze of alleyways. He could frequently loop back around to look at the Eevee, but that stopped when they left the alleys and into the open air. Inhaling heavily, the throbbing in his arm turning into a constant burn from the rubbing against the Eevee's filthy fur, Sam began to run towards the Pokémon Center. He thought he heard his name being called, but a pounding in his head pushed that thought away before he could pay much attention.

The first thing Sam saw when he went through the doors of the Pokémon Center was an unusually long line. It seemed that everyone in town must be here to have their Pokémon checked all at once. He paused momentarily at the back of the queue, confused as to what to do.  
>It was Katrina who came to his rescue, running in the door just after Sam. Taking one look at him, and his cargo, she pushed him gently forward.<p>

"Move people!" She yelled in a loud voice which betrayed her size. "Coming through! Unless you're injured like this guy and Pokémon, move!" A few turned around, angry looks on their faces, but moved quietly aside when they saw Sam and the Eevee. By the time he was at the front of the crowd, his mind was blank and his arm throbbing. The next few minutes were a blur, with the Eevee being taken gently from his arms and Sam being led to the general treatment area. While most Pokémon Centers weren't equipped to deal with serious human injuries, minor ones could be dealt with. He came to when he was being made to sip a creamy drink by a Chansey. His eyes narrowed down at the drink. He had tasted the egg belonging to the Chansey line only once, after being treated in a hospital after an operation, but it wasn't a taste you forgot easily. As it slid down his throat, he sighed in relief as a pulse of warmth spread from his stomach outwards. The Chansey handed the cup to his good hand, bringing out a needle and some surgical thread. Sam winced as he saw them appear, and focused on his drink. Thankfully, the drink also blocked the pain receptors, so Sam went through the process of having his cuts fixed without noticing. His bitten hand was similarly bandaged up, and within ten minutes, he was carried to the room he and Nick had reserved that morning. Dirden hadn't been present since the Eevee was taken, most likely to watch over it.

Giving a sigh, Sam looked up at the bunk bed above him. He wasn't getting off to a good start with Dirden, he thought darkly. It was only the first day though. Only the first few hours even, but it was still bothering him. When the door opened, he looked over, seeing Katrina, Nick and a second girl in the doorway. Nick was carrying several bags, which he dumped on the floor wearily.

"Where did you g-?" He asked waspishly, stopping as he looked at Sam's bandaged right arm. "What happened to you?"

Sam made a face. "Chasing injured wild Pokémon. Sorry about ditching you, did you get everything you needed?"

Nick nodded, coming closer to the bed. When he knelt down besides the bed, Sam could see Sparx napping within the hood on Nick's shirt. "Yeah, had to skip some things though, when it looked like you wouldn't be coming back."

"So what happened?" Katrina asked, entering the room with the other girl in tow, who looked both terrified and curious. The Sparkid wobbled after her, still seeming to have issues with walking. It bleated loudly up at the girl when she got too far away, breaking into an alarmed stumbled until it could lean against her.

"I was leaving the pharmacy," Sam started, when the Sparkid sneezed, a small torrent of flame scorching the floor and leaving a small mark. It jumped back, having scared itself. Shaking his head, Sam continued to relate how he had found the Eevee stuck in the trash can. He stopped when he got to the part about the Nymbis, having forgotten about it.

"Damn, just a sec." He sat up, instantly regretting it as his vision swam before him. Nick leaned forward, steading Sam and turning him slowly so that he could lean against the wall. With his good arm, he reached around his body, to find the Ultraball. _Of course it's on my other side._ Sam thought, before snaring it with the tips of his fingers. He clicked the button on the front of the Ultraball, enlarging it, before clicking it again. The Ultraball opened, a blast of red energy pouring out and forming into the fluffy cloud form of the Nymbis. A small face had appeared towards the front of it, made out of the bumps and ripples in the densely packed cloud.

"Hi." Sam said. The Nymbis turned to him, confusion still evident on its face. "Um, I'm sorry about before, I didn't mean to disturb you." That seemed to spark its memory. The Nymbis shuddered, turning a dark colour. "But can I explain myself before you go shocking me?"

The Nymbis advanced, and then stopped. The darkness in its mass faded, and with an odd shudder, it nodded.

"Thanks." Sam said, smiling at it. He continued the story, telling how he had found the Eevee and its injuries, and managed to bring it to the Pokémon Center. He neglected to tell them how Dirden had reacted, not wanting to admit to others that his first Pokémon didn't trust him.

"Wow." Katrina murmured, sitting next to Sam. "I wonder what happened to it? I mean, an Eevee isn't the kind of Pokémon you just dump in the streets." When Sam gave her a confused look, she continued. "Eevee are rare Pokémon. I guess this one could have been wild, but that wouldn't explain why it was in the city. Eevee prefer open fields, I think." The Nymbis gave an odd rumble, shaking its body in another nod. Katrina nodded back. "And if that's the case, then the Eevee must have escaped from an abusive trainer, and pretty recently. She didn't look that old."

"It's a girl?" Sam asked, frowning.

"Yup."

"Ah." Sam answered. "Fair enough. Did the Nurse say anything else?"

Katrina shook her head. "All she told me and Hope-" She indicated to the Sparkid trainer, who looked horrified at being named openly. "That it was a miracle the Eevee had lasted as long as it had. Its injuries were pretty bad."

"Her trainer couldn't have done it, could they?" Sam asked, worried. The Nymbis gave another rumble, shaking its body. "Oh, I'm sorry." Sam smiled apologetically. "I caught you before so I could get to the Eevee. Did you want to be released?"

That one seemed to give the Nymbis some thought. It shrank inwards, becoming a compact ball of cloud.

"I just became a trainer today." Sam added, wanting to give the Nymbis the full story. "But I'm heading out tomorrow," He looked quizzically at Nick, who shrugged." Or the day after to begin a Pokémon journey. You're welcome to come?"

The Nymbis remained like that for a few, long seconds, before swelling out again, giving a nod.

"Really?" Sam asked excitedly. "You want to come?" Nymbis nodded. "Awesome! Well, welcome to the team then!" Sam grinned at the other humans. "Um, I guess I should think of a name for you then."

"How about Zeus?" Katrina suggested perkily. "It's the name of the ancient Pokémopolis King of the Gods. He was often depicted as a man who could change form. In battle, he would throw lightning bolts."

The Nymbis seemed to think for a moment, nodding its consent. "Zeus it is. Welcome to the team." Sam said again. "Now, you guys reckon I can get up?"

The collective looks he received from everyone, including Zeus, made him shrink down. "I thought not." He muttered to himself.

* * *

><p>Pokédex:<p>

Chansey, the Egg Pokémon  
>Chansey is a kind Pokémon who shares its egg with those who are sick or injured. Because of this, humans and Pokémon alike have laws in place to prevent members of this evolutionary line from being attacked.<br>Evolves from Happiny, evolves with high happiness to Blissey

Eevee, the Evolution Pokémon  
>Eevee is a unique Pokémon that can adapt to its environment by changing its form and abilities when evolving.<br>Evolves in a variety of ways.

Growlithe, the Puppy Pokémon  
>Growlithe are very loyal and won't move unless their trainer commands it. While loyal to its master, the Growlithe will drive away enemies by barking and biting.<br>Evolves wth the use of a Fire Stone to Arcanine

Pichu, the tiny Mouse Pokémon  
>Despite their size, Pichu release bursts of electricity that can shock even humans. However, Pichu are unskilled at controlling their electricity, and sometimes release it by accident when surprised, or when laughing and shock themselves.<br>Evolves with the use of a Thunder Stone to Pikachu

Treecko, the Wood Gecko Pokémon  
>Treecko are able to climb smooth vertical walls and use their thick tail to attack opponents. Since Treecko build their nests in large trees it is said that those trees will live a very long life.<br>Evolves at Level 16 to Grovyle

Torchic, the Chick Pokémon  
>If attacked, it strikes back by spitting balls of fire it forms in its stomach. A Torchic dislikes darkness because it can't see its surroundings.<br>Evolves at Level 16 to Combusken

Mudkip, the Mud Fish Pokémon  
>Mudkip uses the sensitive radar receptors on its headfin to determine what's going on around it. In a pinch, it can remish enough power to crush rocks.<br>Evolves at Level 16 to Marshtomp

Azurill, the Polka Dot Pokémon  
>Azurill is able to throw its tail like a lasso, using the momentum to move about. Its tail is filled with nutrients necessary for growth.<br>Evolves with high happiness to Marill

Budew, the Bud Pokémon  
>In winter, it keeps its bud closed to survive the cold, but then opens it again in the spring. It lives alongside clear ponds. It scatters pollen that induces harsh sneezing and runny noses.<br>Evolves with high happiness to Roselia

Nymbis, the Cloud Pokémon  
>Due to its misty state, this Pokémon is rarely caught. Members of this species have been known to follow humans who are in a bad mood, raining on them.<br>Evolves into a variety of Pokémon, based on its region. Most common evolution is Stratas.


	4. Chapter 4: On the Road

Pokemon ©1995-2012 Nintendo, GAME FREAK Inc, Creatures Inc.  
>Janera and all related creatures, items and landforms ©2002-2012 Obsidian Blade<br>Metone and all related creatures, items and landforms ©2002-2012 TopazSoarhire  
>Dictioy and all related creatures, items and landforms ©2004-2012 Articunomew<p>

* * *

><p><em>I will be your prince, I'll be your saint.<br>I will go crashin' through fences, in your name.  
>I will, I swear,<br>I'll be someone to fall back on._

_I'll be the one who waits,  
>For as long as you let me,<br>I will be the one you need.  
>I'll be someone to fall back on.<em>

_'Someone to Fall Back On'_  
><em>performed by Aly Michalka<em>

By the next morning, Sam's injuries had been reduced to three puffy red scratches of slightly raised skin. The Eevee was still in intensive care, but had stabilised enough that a Pokémon Counselor had been able to talk to her for a few short minutes, finding out how the Eevee had come to be on the streets. The psychic Pokémon had radiated enough anger that it had woken Sam from his light doze, and it was purely by accident that Sam was able to listen to the conversation.

'_Broken leg, multiple half healed lesions, parasitic infections, as well as some fractured bones across the body._' Nurse Joy's voice pierced Sam's head suddenly, startling him into full wakefulness. He jolted, shaking the bed and startling a moan from Nick in the bunk above him. Sam listened carefully to the other boy. When he was sure Nick was fully asleep again, he concentrated his telepathic powers again. Now that he was awake, it would be quite an effort to listen to what was going on.

'_-tacted the Trainer in question. She will be here within the week. Apparently she has been hunting high and low for the young Fox._' A silvery whisper sounded back, probably belonging to the Pokémon Counselor. Due to their abilities to bypass language, most Pokémon Counselors were psychic type Pokémon, which was why the telepathic communication had woken Sam. Psychic humans were unusual enough that most psychic Pokémon wouldn't think to shield a conversation against them, setting up a mental barrier around the telepathic waves they shared with the other person in the conversation.

'_I understand. Will you keep a representative here to accompany the young Eevee while her Trainer is debriefed?_' Nurse Joy answered, her mental voice fading in and out. That meant she was either not very good at psychic conversations, or she was aided by a Telepathic Wave Translator. The TWT were small machines which could grant psychic powers to humans and some species of Pokémon, but they were typically used to communicate with psychic Pokémon. Anything more stressful to their brain and nosebleeds would begin to occur, accompanied by severe migraines. Some naturally psychic people would use TWTs to boost their own powers, but the pricing was out of the range of most trainers.

'_We are attempting to find the family of the young Fox right now. It appears that she was living in a natural setting when she was found by her Trainer. Should my suspicious prove true, then she may be returned to her family, or select ano-.' _The voice paused. '_I suspect our conversation is no longer private. A moment._' A second later, the conversation disappeared. If it hadn't been for Sam's memories, it may not have existed.

Giving a sigh, Sam quirked his mouth, looking at the wood above him. Today was the day he, Nick and their mentor, Brendon Birch, would be setting out for Arw City. He wasn't quite as excited as he had thought he would be, consumed by his worries over the Eevee.

He jolted again as an alarm went off. Looking over at the dresser in the room, Sam saw a golden colored C-Gear buzzing on it. He heard a creak in the bed above him.

"Chu?"

Sam smiled. He sat up, putting his feet on the floor. Waiting a moment to make sure he was ok, he then got to his feet, feeling nothing but the dullest of aches from his arm and hand. The Chansey egg had done its work. Walking over to the dresser, he picked up Nick's C-Gear and deactivated the alarm. Turning, he was met with the sight of Sparx the Pichu tugging on Nick's sleeve as hard as he could. Grinning, Sam walked over to Sparx, who pointed at Nick with a worried look.

"It's ok." Sam said, smiling up at the tiny mouse Pokémon. "Do you want to get down?"

Sparx nodded his head, stretching out his arms to Sam. Sam reached a hand up, resting it on the bed. Sparx darted down his arm, stopping on his shoulder and braced himself using a lock of Sam's hair. They both looked at Nick for a moment, before Sam shrugged. He grabbed Nick's C-Gear again, programming the alarm to go off again in five minutes. With that done, he left the room with Sparx. Idly, he wondered where Dirden was. He hadn't seen the dragon type Pokémon since the day before. He sighed, feeling somewhat rejected, but perked up again when he walked into the kitchen. Dirden was in there, consuming a rather large plate of what looked like bacon, the name for a synthetic meat which had begun to be produced when communication between Pokémon and humans had become much easier. Sam's stomach growled loudly at that point, making Dirden look up.

"_Ah, the red haired one_." He commented gravelly, Katrina's beanie still forming a strange mask around his head.

"Good morning Dirden." Sam returned lightly. "Do you mind if we join you?"

Dirden pondered for a moment. "_This is acceptable._" He said, and then pointed towards a small buffet. "_You will find sustenance over there. I would avoid the milk today. Allegedly, a Purrloin was able to break into the milk containers before they were able to be safely put away._"

Sam nodded his thanks to his starter Pokémon, walking over to the selection of food. It was rather early, just past six in the morning, so he was one of the first ones there, giving him a full range of food to choose from. With Sparx to help him choose, he returned to the table with scrambled eggs (Courtesy of the Pokémon Center's Chansey population), a bowl of cereal and a small punnet of pecha berries for Sparx, who seemed to have developed a fondness for them. Sitting down at the table, Sam looked over at Dirden.

"How is the Eevee, do you know?"

"_The Fox is in good hands._" Dirden replied simply. He continued to snack on his bacon, despite Sam's pointed look.

"Anything else you can tell me?" Sam inquired when it seemed Dirden wasn't going to go on.

"_No._"

Sam exhaled slowly, shaking his head. Looking down at his food, he began eating, ignoring Dirden as the dragon inspected him closely.

"_How are your injuries?_" Dirden asked after a moment.

"Better." Sam replied shortly, putting a spoonful of cereal in his mouth. Dirden continued to stare at him for a moment, and then went back to his bacon, jumping back when Sparx suddenly erupted in a shower of electrically shocks. Sam jumped back as well, almost losing balance and falling over before he was able to correct himself. Once he was settled, he stared at the Pichu who continued to eat a thoroughly cooked pecha berry like nothing had happened.

"Morning!" Sam looked up, seeing Brendan Birch standing there. He slid into the seat next to Sam, bringing his own breakfast. "I just came from a small meeting with the other mentors. You, Nick and I will be leaving at eight thirty. We're the second group out."

"Who is the first group?" Sam asked, moving on to his scrambled eggs, almost inhaling them as Sparx lit up again.

"_Do you mind?_" Dirden snapped irritably at the electrical mouse, who answered with a broad grin, popping the rest of the pecha berry in his mouth.

"Maylene's group." Brendan said, eyes blinking rapidly. It seemed he had been looking right at Sparx when he had shocked his berry. "May's group is the last one." He said mischievously, making Sam wonder whether he had had a hand in that selection. Katrina and Hope were paired with May, so they would be the last to leave. "Where's Nick?"

"Still asleep." Sam answered. "His C-Gear did go off, but it didn't wake him up. So I reprogrammed it to go off..." He paused, looking at his own C-Gear on his wrist. "About five minutes ago."

"Heh." Brendan chuckled quietly. "Well, I'll go grab him. We need to get ready." He got up, leaving Sam with the two Pokémon.

"You're coming with us, aren't you?" Sam asked Dirden. The thought that his starter Pokémon might want to stay until the arrival of the Eevee's trainer hadn't occurred to him until then.

Dirden inclined his head. "_My duty of care has passed to another of my species. The Fox is being protected by one of my own family._" Sam blinked in confusion, before it clicked. Dictioy was one of the regions where Frezint lived, so it made sense that one of Dirden's family live around here.

"Great." Sam said, a smile of relief showing on his face. Dirden cocked the scaly ridge which passed for an eyebrow in his species, before rolling his eyes.

"_Your selfish thoughts should be on the plight of the poor Fox._" Dirden said in a near growl. "_Not on how soon you can leave this place._"

With that, Sam's patience snapped. "Excuse me?" He said in an icy tone which made Dirden step back. "In case you hadn't noticed, YOU weren't involved in the rescue of that Pokémon until near the end. _I _was the one to notice something was wrong, and then try to find her so she could be made well. You weren't the one injured, _twice_ I might add. I was cut, bitten, threatened by a wild Pokémon, snubbed by my starter Pokémon and then spent the night recovering from whatever poisonous bacteria she had building up under her claws from when she freaked out and scratched me. If either of us is selfish, it's you, for considering your role in watching her, which is all you did!" Sam got up, no longer hungry. The other trainers in the room had stopped eating to look over at what was going on. Climbing over the bench, Sam stormed from the cafeteria, leaving a sympathetic Pichu scowling at the abashed dragon type.

Sam stalked down the stairs of the Pokémon Center, rounding the corner and stopping at the front counter. Nurse Joy sat behind it, typing something on a computer while a Gardevoir stood nearby, staring into the distance. Nurse Joy looked up, smiling widely at Sam.

"Ah, yes, the young boy who brought the Eevee to us. How are you feeling today?"

"Fine." Sam snapped. When Nurse Joy inclined her head and raised an eyebrow, Sam sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm having some problems with my Pokémon."

Nurse Joy nodded. "I understand. The first fight is the hardest. Most tend to wait until their third week of training before they begin to argue." Nurse Joy smiled reassuringly. "It will pass, and you'll soon forget about it." She stood up, sliding her chair back. "Your Nymbis has finished with its examination. I'll go get him." As she began to walk off, she paused. "Oh, I'd best get your injuries checked out. Chansey!" Said Pokémon poked her head around the doorway of the small office she as in. She waved when she saw Sam, beckoning him over.

"Thank you." Sam replied, feeling small for being so rude to the Nurse. She smiled at him again before she left to get Zeus.

Sam sighed, walking into the office and sitting on the small bed in there. It was only after the Chansey undressed his injuries that he realised they had company. Looking up, his eyes settled on the Gardevoir, who was now in the doorway, staring at him.

'_You are the one who saved the young Fox from the streets?_' The silvery voice from before sounded in Sam's head. It had been this Gardevoir, it seemed. Sam nodded in answer. '_I must thank you. If she had been there for much longer, her situation may have been a lot worse. We are fortunate that we have had only a mild winter this year. A blessing too, for the young Fox._'

Sam smiled. "I'm glad I could help." He answered truthfully. "I hope you're able to find her family, or-." He froze, realising he had just admitted to eavesdropping before.

A wave of amusement radiated from the Gardevoir. '_So it was you who was listening in. I would lecture you on the correct and polite use of your abilities, but they are not always able to be controlled in a semi-conscious state._' She paused for a moment, her white dress-like fur billowing around her. '_I understand you are one of the trainers from the contest yesterday. I am glad to see that a fine, caring young human was chosen._'

Sam blushed and began stammering his thanks, when the Gardevoir shook her head. '_My compliments are rarely given, young human. I could not help but overhear the conversation you had between the Nurse earlier.'_ A note of wry amusement entered her telepathic voice. '_It seems we are equal in listening to the conversations of others. You are having troubles with your new starter Pokémon?' _Sam nodded again, beginning to feel ashamed at having snapped at Dirden. The Gardevoir remained silent for a moment, seeming to weigh her words before she spoke. '_Not every Pokémon you meet will like you, just like humans. Sometimes the more you try to force this, the worse the situation becomes. Nurse Joy is wise for a human, but she is also tempered by a fear of disappointing you. To use a saying humans have, 'Sometimes it is like trying to force a square peg into a circular hole._'

Sam stared at her, opening his mouth to reply when Nurse Joy came up behind the Gardevoir with Zeus floating besides her. Yesterday he had been a dull, murky brown, having fed from street water. Today, he was much bigger and a fluffy white colour. When he saw Sam, the cloudy mass altered until Zeus' 'face' appeared, smiling broadly at Sam.

"Zeus is fine." Nurse Joy said brightly. "He spent the night feeding from clean water, and we measured him for density, as well as water and electrical control. He falls within average ranges on all three except electrical control, which he seems to require a bit more of." She looked sidelong at Zeus, who smiled sheepishly. Sam wondered if that had anything to do with the small brown-out the Center had undergone for a few seconds the day before. "If you have any more problems, feel free to go to any Pokémon Center. I've entered his details into an international database, so any qualified professional should know where to look if something is wrong."

"Great." Sam said, before looking back at his hand. The bite marks were still scabbed over, but were much smaller than they had been the day before. The Chansey had spread some ointment on the marks while he had talked with the Gardevoir and even as he watched, the scabs were shrinking, being replaced with new, pink skin. Chansey's hands were glowing above the wounds, and Sam could feel a strange power between her hands and his. When the wounds were replaced by skin, Chansey looked up and smiled at him.

Sam looked down at his hand, inspecting the place he had been bitten. From the looks of it, he wouldn't even scar. Flexing his hands, he smiled when he felt no twinge of pain in them. "That was awesome. Thanks Chansey!" The Chansey bowed her hair, her cheeks turning slightly red in embarrassment.

Sam stood, feeling a little bit better. When he turned back to the door way, he started when he saw that the Gardevoir had disappeared. Nurse Joy was there instead, waiting to pass over Zeus.

"You're looking better today." Sam noted, inspecting the cloud Pokémon again. Zeus shuddered in the way that Sam was coming to recognise as a yes. Sam received Zeus' Ultraball from the Nurse with a murmured thanks. He needed to go upstairs now, and face Dirden.

_Square peg, circular hole._

Shaking his head, Sam thanked the Nurse again, who simply waved him off with a smile. She returned to her position behind the desk where the Gardevoir had appeared. The Gardevoir's eyes met Sam's for a moment, and she nodded, turning to look back in the distance again as she communicated with someone far off.

Climbing the stars, Sam sighed, running apologies and excuses through his head. He knew he should apologise to Dirden for being angry, but he didn't entirely feel it was undeserved. This line of thinking only stopped when he saw Sparx at the top of the stairs, waiting for Sam.

"Hi." Sam said, stopping a few steps down. "Were you looking for me?"

Sparx nodded. "Chu, chu, pipipi, chu, pichu!" He said sadly, looking down at his feet.

Shaking his head, Sam smiled and scooped the baby Pokémon up. Sparx squeaked in dismay as the floor dropped from under him, but no shocks were forthcoming. "I'm ok, don't worry." Sam said, setting Sparx on his shoulder. "We'll try and sort it out." He said as he walked into the room he shared with Nick, which was now vacant. The contents of some of the pockets in Sam's bags were sprawled out, with Dirden's Pokéball on top. It seemed the young dragon had decided to return to his Pokéball. With a snort, Sam shook his head. Putting Sparx down on the dresser, Sam shut the door once Zeus was in the room. He quickly got changed into his 'trainer uniform', clipping Dirden and Zeus' Pokéballs to his belt as he did. He quickly repacked his bag, sitting on his bunk with a sigh. He began wondering again what to do with Dirden when the door opened; Nick and Brendan were back from breakfast. With an elated cry, Sparx leapt from the top of Zeus, who seemed to have the ability to support people on top of himself when he wanted to, into Nick's arms.

Nick laughed, his eyes suddenly going wide as a small current of electricity coursed through him, enough to make his hair stand on end. Sparx stopped after a few seconds, rubbing his cheek again Nick's.

"Well, I'm awake now." Nick said wryly. Looking over at Sam, he nodded his approval at Sam's outfit. "Not bad. All ready to go?"

"Yeah." Sam said, getting to his feet before he frowned. "Wait." He checked his watch. "It's only six forty-five."

"Yup!" Nick said cheerfully, while Brendan leaned against the wall, looking amused. "But the earlier we set off, the sooner we beat everyone else to Arw City!"

Sam smiled, Nick's attitude was infectious it seemed. "I guess. Are we allowed to go?" He directed the question at Brendan.

In return, the older boy shrugged. "I don't see why not. You two will learn to spend as much time with a fluffy bed as possible very quickly." He smiled. "Shall we?"

The boys quickly packed up the room, returning their Pokémon to their Pokéballs, while Brendan retrieved his own belongings. Fifteen minutes later, they met in the lobby, and were about to walk out the door when Sam stopped.

'_Before you leave, the young Fox would like to see you._' The Gardevoir's voice broke into Sam's head suddenly. He stopped, and then grinned apologetically at Brendan and Nick when they looked at him curiously.

"Sorry, I just got a message. Can we wait a few minutes? The Eevee wants to see me."

Nick nodded, while Brendan looked confused. "Eevee?" He asked, as Nick led him over to a collection of seats where people would wait for their Pokémon to be treated. Sam walked back to the front counter, seeing the Gardevoir beckoning to him on the other side of the small office behind the desk. Moving behind the desk and through the room, he paused beside her. Quietly, she led him deep within the medical areas of the Pokémon Center.

'_The young Fox is still weak yet._' She said, her whispery voice sounding through Sam's mind. '_But she has regained consciousness temporarily so that we may get further information from her. Please keep it quick, so she may return to a resting state._' The Gardevoir paused outside an opened door. Looking inside, Sam could see Nurse Joy standing over the Eevee, pulling a needle from her paw. Sam's footsteps, loud in this quiet area, made Nurse Joy look up. She smiled, and bent down to quickly change a bandage around the forepaw of the Eevee. That done, she left quickly, closing the door silently behind her. Sam walked forward hesitantly, settling into a chair next to the bed. The Eevee watched him as he did so, her heart monitor increasing as he moved, and settling when he was still.

"Hello." Sam said.

The Eevee lifted her head. "_I am sorry._" She said in a quiet voice. the PokéTrans had made her sound like a young teenager, probably only a few years younger than Sam.

Sam frowned. "What are you sorry for?"

"_For the trouble I have caused. They said I hurt you, I didn't mean to. I really am sorry._" The Eevee's voice became slightly choked up.

Sam hesitated, and then extended his hand, resting it gently on her head. He rubbed her head gently, trying to avoid the bandages and places where he could see stitches through the fur. Her heart rate increased as he did so, and she actively flinched away from his touch at first, before relaxing.

"You don't have anything to be sorry about." Sam told her quietly. "You were scared, really hurt and living in bad conditions. Anyone would have done what you did, in the same situation." She buried her head between her paws, hiding her eyes. "But it should all be better soon. The Nurse and her team were able to fix me up, look." He held up the hand she had bitten, showing her the healed area. "And they'll be able to do the same to you. Then, once they find your family, you can go back to them, or you can go back with the girl who was trai-."

"_No!_" The Eevee interrupted loudly. "_I am NOT going back with her. They can't make me, they won't make me!_" She began fighting to get up, her legs trembling under her.

"Shh, no, they won't!" Sam said quickly, holding his hands out in case she tried to jump. "If she was that bad to you, they won't make you go back to her. If she was really bad, they'll take away her Trainer License and punish her!"

The Eevee froze, and then cautiously lay back down. "_Do you promise? What if she lies?_"

Sam smiled timidly. "It's under International Pokémon Treaty, set down by the Wings of Council. If a trainer is suspected of abusing the Pokémon under their care, then they need to submit themselves to questioning by a member of the psychic type. They'll see the lies if your trainer tries to hide what she has done."

This seemed to make sense to the Eevee, who sighed with relief. "_I'm glad. Maybe the others can be helped now as well._"

Sam nodded. "If she has other Pokémon, they'll be offered the same chance you'll be offered. They can return to their homes, or they can choose another Trainer to journey with, if they know one who is willing."

"_Would you let me join you?_"

Sam paused, looking down at her. "Um... That's something you should probably think about for a while before deciding. I would love to have you journey with me, but I don't want you to do it when you might choose something else when you're better."

The Eevee cocked her head. "_You don't want me?_"

Sam shook his head. "I want a Pokémon who chooses to be with me after thinking about it." He stood up, seeing Nurse Joy peeking in the door and pointing to her watch. "Let's make a deal. I'm only a new trainer, but I'm heading to Arw City next. You're going to be here for a while to heal, but you should be better by the time I get there. If you still want to travel with me, tell Nurse Joy and she'll contact me. If not, then you don't need to respond." Nurse Joy gave him a more insistant look. "I have to go now, but I hope you get better quickly, and they find your family soon." He rubbed her head gently once more, before walking to the door.

"_My name is Diana._" The Eevee said quickly, before he left. Turning, Sam grinned at her.

"I'm Sam."

"_Until next time, Sam_."

Returning to the lobby, Sam saw that Sparx was once more free of his Pokéball, and seemed to be engaged in an argument with Nick over returning to it. As Sam walked up, Sparx, seemingly fed up, shocked Nick, then knocked the Pokéball from his hands.

"Um... Is there a problem?" Sam asked, looking at the two. Brendan was watching them, looking oddly fascinated.

Nick looked up, his brow furrowed. "This, this... _rat_!" Sparx made an equally rude noise at Nick in answer. "Refuses to get in his Pokéball."

"Isn't that normal for the Pikachu line though?" Sam asked, confused. "Look at Ash Ketchum."

"Yeah, it is." Nick said. "But I don't really wanna be shocked every five minutes by him!"

Sam looked down at Sparx. "You like the faces he makes when you shock him, huh?"

Sparx nodded, eying Nick evilly.

"How's this sound then. He-," Sam pointed at Nick. "- will let you stay out of the Pokéball, so long as you don't shock him." Sparx protested, waving his stubby arms. When he held up his paw, three fingers extended, Sam shook his head. "No shocking. Unless he deserves it or needs it."

"Hey, shouldn't I be the one making the deal here?" Nick protested. "He is my Pokémon!"

Sam cocked an eyebrow. "Sure, I set the basic terms, now you two can figure it out." He turned to Brendan. "We ready to go?"

"Yep!" Brendan said as Nick and Sparx began squabbling in the background. He heaved himself from the chair, picking up his lime-green backpack.

"Awesome, let's go." Sam said, eager to finally start his journey. It wasn't quite how he pictured it, a vaguely famous mentor and an arguing Pichu and his trainer hadn't really been factors, but it was what he had. Turning, he left the Center, Nick and Brendan following in his wake.

Though it was early, the day was already warm. A slight frost spread over the grass that Sam could see. They slowly made their way out of the city. The finely kept lawns turned to untidy gardens, and finally, untouched wilderness. The road changed from maintained concrete to a slightly worn path. By the time they were out of the city proper, the sun was well in its journey above the horizon. After half an hour from where they had left Comed Town, Sam checked his C-Gear, realising that if they had stuck to the schedule, they would be leaving the Pokémon Center only now. Around them, the wild Pokémon of Dictioy were beginning to move about. Jorei, the rainbow lorikeet Pokémon and a distant relative of Chatot, could be heard mocking each other from the distant trees, their voices capable of journeying over miles. Ahead of them, a small family of Rattata crossed the path quickly, led by a large Raticate, which bared its fangs at the distant travelers until all of its children had crossed, at which point, it fled into the tall grass.

Sam inhaled deeply, reveling in the fresh air. His feet were beginning to slightly hurt, but he was determined to ignore that for as long as possible. Nick and Sparx had settled their argument it seemed, with Sparx discharging a mild current every ten minutes or so, enough so that the electrical buildup wouldn't become uncomfortable for him, Sam guessed. It left Nick with a near permanent state of having his hair on end, however. Luckily for him, his hair was relatively short, so it just looked like he spiked it in weird patterns.

The group walked for a few hours in almost silence, except for Sparx and Nick, who were pointing out some things to each other. Once, Sparx clambered down Nick's leg when he spied something in the grass nearby, returning with a Potion bottle. He wobbled back and forth as he returned triumphantly, holding the Bottle above his head, walking past the surprised Nick to present it to Brendan. Brendan grinned, accepting the gift from the tiny mouse and put it away in his backpack. Sparx returned to Nick's shoulder, keeping an eye out for other items.

It was nearing eleven in the morning when they stopped near a small grove of trees besides the road. Some logs had been dragged into a circle, probably by some previous Trainers who had spent the night. After a quick game of Fire-Water-Grass, Brendan was left to make lunch, while Nick and Sam were free to do what they wanted. Nick quickly wandered over to the shade of a large tree, closing his eyes to take a nap, while Sam gather some firewood for Brendan to cook on. When he returned, a Numel was standing besides Brendan, looking happily drowsy.

"_Hi!_" It said slowly, but excited. "_I'm Spitfire!_"

Sam nodded to the Numel, carefully putting his load of sticks down in a circle of stones. "Hi Spitfire, I'm Sam."

"Spitfire will teach you how to build a fire properly." Brendan said over his shoulder from where he was making food. "Normally I'd only make a small lunch, and then settle down with a fire to make dinner, but it's a lot easier to see the arrangement during the day."

"Oh, ok." Sam looked down at the sticks. "Ok Spitfire, what do I do?"

Under Spitfire's watchful eye, Sam built a small fire which wouldn't die in the middle of cooking things on it. Once lunch was made, Sam released Dirden, who accepted his portion without a word, flying off a few trees away to eat.

"Don't worry about it." Brendan told Sam quietly. "That's normal behaviour at that age, the urge to take food and eat it by yourself. It's to stop siblings and other competitors from taking it from you."

"I guess." Sam said, chewing on the sandwich he had been given. A hot patty of meat rest between the slices, along with some fresher vegetables. Sam had been told to savour them, as they would be the first things to be used, since life on the road didn't really include a fridge. Some of the synthetic meat would keep for weeks though, specially engineered for Pokémon Trainers. A nearby tree rustled, and with an angry screech, a Jorei fell out, flapping its wings and soaring off over the campfire. A jeering calls of its flock sounded out in the trees near the fire, startling Nick awake.

"Huh?" He said numbly, before sniffing. "Hey, food!" Brendan quickly passed him a sandwich, which was quickly devoured. A second one met the fate of the first shortly after the second. Shaking his head in amusement at Nick's appetite, Sam grabbed another sandwich, walking over to the tree Dirden was in.

"Hey, did you want this?" He asked, offering the sandwich up to the young Frezint. He received no answer, as Dirden swished his tail, staring intently at the trunk of the tree he was on. Sighing again, Sam returned to the campfire to the pitying looks of both Brendan and Nick. Sparx looked in the direction of Dirden, annoyance written across his face. The rest of lunch went by quickly. Dirden quietly returned himself to his Pokéball while Sam wasn't noticing. When the fire was put out, again supervised by Spitfire, the boys continued on their journey to Arw City and the first gym.

* * *

><p>Pokédex:<p>

Jorei, the Rainbow Lorikeet Pokémon  
>This Pokémon is most known for its bright colours and cheeky attitude. Because it has the ability to mimic other sounds, it is thought to be a distant relative of Chatot, the Music Note Pokémon.<br>This Pokémon has not been record to evolve.

* * *

><p>Trainer Tips:<p>

The Wings of Council:  
>A Council formed by the leaders of the Legendary Bird Pokémon, this Council meets to discuss the current status of the Pokémon World, and may take action against those who they deem threatening to the natural balance. Its members include Legendary Pokémon such as Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Lugia, Ho-oh, Echotrance, Celestrial and Halu.<p> 


	5. Chapter 5: Smells like Drained Spirit

Pokemon ©1995-2012 Nintendo, GAME FREAK Inc, Creatures Inc.  
>Janera and all related creatures, items and landforms ©2002-2012 Obsidian Blade<br>Metone and all related creatures, items and landforms ©2002-2012 TopazSoarhire  
>Dictioy and all related creatures, items and landforms ©2004-2012 Articunomew<p>

* * *

><p><em>They're out to get you, to capture you,<br>And make you spellbound…  
>Howling and frowling, you're shivering, quivering,<br>Spellbound…._

_You cannot run,  
>And you cannot hide.<br>Yeah you gotta face it baby,  
>Things go bump in the night.<em>

_Bump in the Night  
>performed by AllStars<em>

Sam walked tensely, his eyes darting back and forth as if he were search for something. This odd behaviour had distracted Nick and Brendan over the past day, but now they ignored it. Sam's only reasoning for it was that he had felt uncomfortable, and he wasn't sure why. He had had a restless night, tossing and turning, waking up every hour. He couldn't escape the sense that they were being followed.

This was day four of their journey. Nick and Sam had discovered the most obvious fact of Pokémon journeys: they were boring. Brendan had snickered for several minutes after this revelation by Nick, which had been announced loudly at lunch the previous day. With a lack of anything else to do, Sam had mentally begun planning some training routines, discussing them with the other two boys. The first thing that had to be improved was Zeus' accuracy. Despite being quite powerful, the young cloud-type Pokémon had very bad aim. Sam had found this out when he had asked for Zeus' help in lighting the fire by sparking part of the kindling at the bottom.  
>Well, Brendan's hair had eventually agreed to lie flat again… The main confusion was how Zeus had managed to aim <em>around<em> the tree that separated him from Brendan.

Sam grinned at the memory, and then shuddered again as a wave of terror struck him anew. For what seemed like the millionth time, he looked behind himself just to be sure. There was still nothing there.

Sam's eyes narrowed, opening his mouth to say something when a dank smell reached his nose. He looked forward, his hand instinctively covering his nose.  
>They were nearing the Lake of Tears, a naturally occurring salt water lake. Surrounding it were mangroves, which made it a natural choice for many Pokémon to make their home, until they discovered the intensely high salt content of the lake. Unfortunately, very few Pokémon species could last here, mostly Magikarp and poison types.<p>

Unfortunately, due to the high salt levels of the lake, and the resulting sulphur made by the mangroves, the ground nearby smelt incredibly bad. Sam's nose and eyes began running as a sheer tide of stink washed over him, a mixture of rotting vegetation, salt and sulphur released by the mangroves.

"Welcome to the Lake of Tears." Brendan announced in a choked voice. Unlike the other two, he had his nose uncovered, inhaling as deeply as he could. "The road around the lake will take about a day to travel, so you should probably try and get used to the smell now."

That explained the deep breaths. Slowly, and very hesitantly, Sam lowered his hand, fighting the urge to not instantly replace it. "There's no faster way?"

Brendan shook his head. "Not without going off the path, which we really shouldn't do. Swamplands aren't the best place to get lost." As if to confirm this, a chilling call from the direction of the lake broke the air. Within seconds, similar calls rose to join it. It seemed Politoed, at least, could be found here.

A scrambling sound made Sam look at Nick. Sparx was crawling down Nick's shirt as fast he could until he reached Nick's belt. Prodding his Pokéball, he disappeared inside, the argument about his staying outside of it forgotten in the wake of spending two days amongst this smell. Nick scowled down at the Pokéball the tiny mouse Pokémon had disappeared into. "Coward."

Sam snickered, gagging when the rush of air caught in his throat. Setting his mouth in a firm stance, he began walking at an accelerated pace, hoping to leave this place as soon as possible. They would only be seeing part of the lake, where a path had been made towards it. They would be travelling north, instead of east into the lake. Mangroves separated the path from the lake at any other time.

Nick and Brendan broke into a semi-jog to catch up with Sam, settling into his pace quickly. A small, hesitant wave of fear hit Sam, almost as if it too were put off by the smell. Looking irritably over his shoulder again, Sam continued walking.

They continued at a fast pace for about an hour, until Nick and Brendan both asked Sam to slow down. After another hour, both wanted an outright break. Looking at his C-Gear in puzzlement, it was only nine o'clock, Sam eyed the other two. They both looked as tired as if they had been walking for several hours, not just two. He wasn't feeling overly tired, his body slowly becoming used to the exercise, though his feet twinged a little.

"Are you two ok?"

"Yeah, I'm just tired." Nick said with a wide yawn. "Probably from you moving around all night." Brendan nodded his agreement.

"You were in a different tent!" Sam retorted. "The only way you could have heard me was if your mother was a Whismur!"

"That's because… Shut up!" Nick said, walking over to a nearby log and sitting on it with a tired groan. "I'm still tired."

"Uh, Nick?"

"What?" Nick snapped, looking at Sam.

"What's that?" Sam said, pointing next to Nick. Following Sam's finger, Nick looked, and found a small puppy Pokémon, looking up at him and wagging its tail. It had a purple underbelly, with the rest of its fur being a solid black, other than two white splotches at the end of its ear. Its claws were a silver colour, while its eyes were the same purple colour as its underbelly. Sam squinted, cocking his head. For a moment, the puppy looked translucent, but it snapped back into solid focus within a matter of seconds.

Nick and the puppy looked at each other in silence for a moment, before Nick grinned, holding out his hand. "Hello!" The puppy squeaked in reply, sounding happy. It nuzzled under Nick's outstretched hand, taking his thumb between its teeth and gnawing gently.

"Ow, ow, ow, ok, let's not do that." Nick said, moving his hand. Reaching around to his backpack, he pulled out a thin strip of something brown. Nick offered the jerky to the puppy, who took it delicately in its mouth, putting it on the log and sniffing it enthusiastically.

"Dibs on it." Nick said loudly, breaking the silence that had risen while he interacted with the puppy.

"Where did it come from?" Brendan asked, moving closer to the log. Kneeling, he was on eye level with the puppy Pokémon, who darted forward, licking his nose. "Aww."

"I don't know." Sam said, looking around. The Politoed was still croaking loudly in the distance, but it seemed to be slowing down. He began to approach the puppy when it looked directly at Sam, growling viciously. Sam froze, and then took a step back. Instantly the puppy stopped growling. A step forward, and it growled again. Staying back this time, Sam raised an eyebrow. "I guess it doesn't like me."

Nick shrugged. "Well, you have been complaining most of today."

The look Sam gave him could have lowered the attack power of a Tyranitar if one had seen it.

Nick leapt to his feet, earning a startled bark from the Pokémon. "I wonder what Pokémon it is!" He set his backpack down, reaching into the back to pull out his PokéDex. He was interrupted when the puppy leapt on top of the bag, licking at his face. "Aww."

Brendan chuckled. "Well, at least it likes you." The puppy growled at Sam, who made a movement as if to pull out his PokéDex. He froze, making the puppy stop growling. "Wow Sam, first Dirden, now this little guy. You have a way with Pokémon." Yet another attack-reducing look from Sam. Somewhere, a Tyranitar looked puzzled as it experienced a shot of panic, which disappeared as soon as it appeared. Shaking its head, it returned to its current activity, levelling a large part of a mountain.

"Well, we should probably start walking again." Sam said, slowly looking at his C-Gear. "Is it coming with us?" Nick looked down at the puppy, who barked up at him, wagging its tail vigorously again. "I'll take that as a yes."

Nick grinned, picking up the puppy, and then swinging his bag onto his shoulder. "Let's go!"

The puppy wriggled in Nick's arm, until it was comfortably in the crook of his arm. With a yawn, it rolled over, setting its head on Nick's elbow. It growled again as they passed Sam, but otherwise made no other protest. Shaking his head, Sam followed behind Nick. Brendan walked next to Nick, cooing at the adorable puppy Pokémon who was now apparently napping. Focusing his eyes on the puppy Pokémon again, Sam's vision blurred once more, the Pokémon snapping back into sharp focus as quickly as it had before. Sam walked on silently as Nick and Brendan interacted with the puppy, who Nick carried for the next two or three hours. Around lunchtime, Sam was almost physically biting his tongue to stop himself lashing out at the other two because of their behaviour. It was his turn to make lunch today, so Sam took out his irritation on some vegetables, chopping them swiftly into a pot. Instead of risking an accident again with Zeus, he resorted to starting fire the old fashioned way…

Two boxes of matches later, Sam's irritation had only built. When the fire caught light, he sat back with a savage grin, a feeling of triumph filling him. With the most basic of things done, he quickly made a small soup using dried noodles and the vegetables he had chopped. Sparx had been nice enough to find some of the vegetables the day before. From the looks of it, someone had intentionally planted some vegetables which could withstand the Dictian climate. They had taken some, and moved on, leaving plenty for the other trainers who would be passing by. A quick look over at the others showed they had settled for a quick nap, the puppy curled up on Nick's stomach, watching him intently. He watched it from the corner of his eye warily, wondering what he was doing wrong this time.

Half an hour later, the soup had finished cooking. Sam ate gratefully, the smell of it blocking out the worst of the mangroves. Just as he finished, he heard footsteps from the opposite direction from which they had been walking. Turning from where he sat on a dry log, Sam saw a young girl, possibly only a year or two younger than him, walking towards them.

"Hi!" She greeted them happily when she had gotten closer. "You guys are trainers?"

Sam nodded. "We just came from Comed Town."

The girl nodded. "Ah, the contest winners. I'd be careful, there are a lot of expert trainers around here right now, looking for easy pickings. Happens every year when the contest location is announced. I'm Kathleen, by the way."

"Sam." He extended his hand, shakings hers firmly. "Are you one of the expert trainers?" He asked with a half-smile.

She openly laughed, shaking her head. "Expert? No, definitely not. Advanced? Yeah, you could say that." She smiled brightly again, showing teeth. "I promise not to force you into a battle. I will extend the offer though."

Sam looked thoughtful. He had yet to have a battle. Nick had had his first battle on their second day, a young trainer whose Pidgey had quickly been defeated by Sparx the Pichu. Nick and Brendan were still napping, not even the smell of cooked food had stirred them.

"Sure." Sam said. "I only have two Pokémon so far though. One on one match for five dollars?"

Kathleen nodded. "Sounds fair. Since you're new, we can give you a handicap too. What typing was your starter?"

Sam looked at her suspiciously, weighing his options. With a shrug, he figured she'd find out anyway. "Ice-Dragon."

Kathleen looked intrigued by that. "Ooh, ok." Her left hand retreated into its sleeve, before popping out again, this time with a Pokéball in it. "Let's see how you can deal with Jaina then." She threw the Pokéball up in the air, the red energy exploding from the Pokéball to become a Pyrberd, a fire/flying type from the Metone region. The forests of Metone regularly dealt with bushfires, so unique Pokémon and flora had evolved to cope with the extreme conditions. Even among these, Pyrberds were unusual. They were a Pokémon that never slept. If they did, or were knocked unconscious, they would be consumed in a burst of flame, reverting to an egg form to try again.

The Pyrberd on the other side of the field looked fairly young. Its pinfeathers shimmered with an odd, fiery pattern, and the air above it was hazy. It was obviously quite hot. Dirden would have some issues against it from his ice typing, but could overcome it with some training. Reaching down to his belt, Sam's fingers paused over Zeus' Pokéball, slightly tempted to alter his choice in the battle. He continued on however, deciding it wouldn't be fair. His fingers closed around the slightly cold Pokéball of Dirden. Pressing the small button on the front and enlarging it, Sam threw it high in the air. It came back down, only opening when it was level with Sam's head. Dirden appeared in a flash of red light, his lithe, scaly body stretching out. It looked like he had been woken from a nap.

"Battle time Dirden." Sam said, pointing to Jaina the Pyrberd. Dirden looked at Jaina contemptuously, stumbling a little on his large wings as he turned to face her. He firmly planted his claws on the ground, body low to the earth. He was ready to battle, it seemed.

Kathleen kicked off the battle first. "Jaina, use Flame Wing!" The Pyrberd hovered in mid-air for a moment, its fiery wings outstretched, before she moved faster than Sam expected. It was definitely faster than Dirden expected, since he yelped and clumsily dodged out of the way, the tip of one of his wings getting caught in Jaina's attack. He growled, lashing out with his long neck and closing his fangs around Jaina's tail feathers.

"Dirden, don-!" Sam called out too late as Dirden yelped again. In battle, a Pyrberd's feathers did actually ignite, so he had gotten a mouthful of fire.

"Try an Icy Wi-." Sam was cut off again as the now angry dragon Pokémon opted to lash out with his tail this time, burning himself again on the body of Jaina. "Dirden! Don't use physical attacks!"

Kathleen seemed to take pity on Dirden, calling out to her Pokémon, "Jaina, use Gust!"

Jaina quickly pulled out of attack range, dodging as Dirden attempted to slash her with his claws. Once she was a fair distance away, she fluttered her wings, sending a small, powerful wind at Dirden. Digging his claws into the ground, Dirden scowled up at the Pyrberd, spreading his wings. They filled with air instantly. Letting lose his grip on the ground, Dirden was blown back a few metres before he caught himself, flying out of the wind and joining Jaina in the air.

"Dirden, use your own Gust attack!" Sam yelled loudly, hoping that Dirden could hear him past the rushing wind. Looking over his shoulder at his trainer, Dirden sent his trainer a doubtful look, instead charging directly into Jaina. With a shriek, she fell from the air onto the ground, while Dirden let out a scream of pain himself. His eyes had closed before he had impacted, but now refused to open without severe pain. Unable to see where he was going, Dirden collided with a tree just outside of the battlefield.

"Dirden!" Sam took off at a run, reaching his starter seconds before Kathleen did. The impact seemed to have knocked him unconscious, a small blessing for the young dragon, but his face was covered in small burns. He reached down to pick Dirden up, but his arm was restrained by Kathleen.

"Don't move burnt Pokémon, you might cause them more pain. You don't want him to be awake right now." She said kindly down to Sam. "Go grab your bag, and use a Burn Heal and a Potion. It should fix him up." Sam nodded, rushing over to his bag.

"Just hold on Dirden." He muttered repeatedly. "Where is that damn medicine kit!" He found it near the bottom of his bag, hiding under a sealed bag of clothing the International League had given him, and he presumed everyone else. _Of course._ He thought to himself. _Why would it be easy to find?_ Reaching into the kit, he quickly found the two items he needed, returning to Dirden. He was about to spray him with the first bottle in his hand, before Kathleen stopped him.

"Burn Heal first." She pointed to the other bottle. Sam almost smacked himself in the head in frustration at himself. Careful, he put the Potion down, then opened the Burn Heal and sprayed it on the burns Dirden had gotten. A waft of Aloe Vera entered Sam's nose, one of the ingredients used in Burn Heals. The burns began to heal rapidly, scabbing over, before being replaced with fresh scales. Dirden gave a sigh of relief in his unconscious state and began to stir, coming back to consciousness when Sam had finished giving him the Potion. He licked his lips sleepily, getting to his feet.

"_What happened?_" He asked, looking at Sam. "_Did we lose the match?_"

Sam nodded sadly; giving a smile with came across as more of a grimace. "I'm sorry, after you tackled Jaina in mid-air, you ran into this tree." He put a hand again the bark, seeming to want to emphasise his point.

"_I see._" Dirden muttered. "_I was hurt before. Did you-?"_ He looked at his flimsy wings, hunting for the burn he had gotten on one of them. When Sam raised his hand, showing Dirden the two bottles he held in it, Dirden nodded. "_Thank you._" He said humbly, sounding taken aback. "_Where is my opponent?"_

Looking around, Sam's gaze stopped quizzically on Kathleen's face. "Where is Jaina?"

Kathleen shrugged. "Taking a small flight around. It takes some time for her feathers to be consumed and regrow, so she likes to fly around until that happens."

Dirden nodded, bobbing his head in a bow-like motion. "_If you could wish her my blessings, I would be in your debt._" Seeing no reaction from Kathleen, Sam quickly looked at her ears. She didn't appear to be wearing a translator, so he repeated Dirden's request to her.

She nodded, chuckling as she did. "No worries. Anyway, I think I should carry on." She extended her hand, grasping Sam's when he put his own there. "It was nice meeting you, good luck with the rest of your journey." She smiled, brushing brown hair from her eyes. "I'll catch you later. Take a rest Dirden, don't dwell too much on the battle."

Dirden nodded gravely. Both trainer and Pokémon watched her departing back as she left.

"So, that was our first opponent huh?"

"_So it would seem._"

"She seems nice."

"_Yes, very nice._"

"And I hate her for that."

"_Only you and I were witness to the battle. I'm willing to pretend she was an obnoxious winner if you are._"

Sam snickered. "You got it." He looked back over at the campsite, frowning when he saw Nick and Brendan were still asleep. "Oh great, it's going to take forever for those two to wake up at this stage."

"_I can help._" Dirden padded next to Sam, his short legs moving fast to keep up with his trainer. "_I… um… I apologise for my behaviour today._"

"Today?"

Dirden raised the part of his face which would have been an eyebrow if he had fur.

"Sorry." Sam said apologetically, pausing besides Brendan's prone body. He was still breathing, which was a good sign. Frowning down at the older boy, Sam shook his head and moved over to the fire, which had burned down to warm embers. Behind him, he heard a gently blowing sound, as if a small wind had picked up. From the yells and furious barking that followed, he figured Dirden must have used Icy Wind to wake the others up.

The rest of the day passed quickly for Sam, consumed within his own thoughts. The puppy too seemed to be settling down, only growling once when Sam had gotten directly level with Nick. His mind was on the battle, and the changes he would make if he could.

It seemed that, despite Dirden's loss, he had clued Sam in on something he hadn't thought of before. Despite the many abilities and skills that Pokémon as a whole possessed, they all used attacks which had been defined by many sources, video games, books, television shows, even people as famous as the Elite Four. And it was for a fairly basic reason: it was easier to call a certain attack 'Thundershock' and get results than to randomly call out a term which would confuse new Pokémon. Sam had asked Dirden to use Gust attack, which would normally generate a small blast of wind, but instead, Dirden had tackled his opponent, and his opponent _hadn't moved. _

Grinning savagely, Sam delighted in this little revelation. Everyone used the same _predictable_ moves because it was easier. This left them totally unprepared if a Trainer were inventive enough to create their own moves, and teach them to their Pokémon. A name like 'Flame Emission' instead of 'Flamethrower' could cause confusion that could be taken advantage of in the middle of a battle.

Sam suddenly paused and looked around. Brendan and Nick were no longer in front of him, nor beside him. Turning around, he saw them about twenty metres away, appearing to be setting up camp. A quick check on the sun told him that it was nearing sunset, definitely about time to get fixed for the night. Slightly annoyed, he walked back to the other two.

'Why didn't you call for me?"

Nick smirked up at him from where he was starting the fire, the small puppy draped over his shoulder. "Wanted to see how far you'd get before you noticed we weren't with you. Hey Brendan!"

"What!" Brendan's voice called from the trees on the other side of the road.

"You owe me a drink when we get to Arw!"

"Dammit Sam!"

Rolling his eyes, Sam looked down at the puppy, and frowned. It looked slightly bigger than it had that morning, though that may be because its stomach looked more rounded. Had it eaten recently?

Sam opened his mouth to ask, before closing it again. He was too distracted to follow up on it. Instead, he began to set up his tent. He didn't particularly want to deal with mosquitoes and their bites.

Nick was the first to head to bed that night, Brendan following him shortly after. Left to his own devices, Sam banked the fire, still caught up in his line of thought from earlier. He had already thought of a potential move that Zeus may be able to do, it just required the cloud Pokémon to improve on his accuracy.

A sudden chill rolled across Sam's shoulder. He shivered violently, looking up at the sky. It looked clear, so Sam really had no idea why he was suddenly cold. With the fire down to a manageable level, he entered his tent, rolling himself up in his sleeping bag as soon as he was able to.

Sleep came reluctantly to Sam that night. He decided the ground he had chosen had magically sprouted some rocks under the bare grass, all concentrated where he lay. Eventually, he drifted off into a fitful sleep, the cold reaching him even in his thermal sleeping bag.

Sam suddenly woke. It was still night-time, his body telling him that he hadn't slept that long. Frowning, he rolled over to find a more comfortable position on the ground and instantly froze.

Bare inches away from his face was the tent wall. Two demonic red eyes glared at him with a hatred he could physically feel, causing a pressure on his lungs. Eyes widening, he tried to yell, but succeeded in letting out the quietest of whispers.

_Rrrrrrrrr._

A deep growl started, making Sam's stomach drop out from underneath itself. With a sudden, raging scream, the eyes disappeared, but the pressure did not. Bolting upright, Sam scrambled out of his sleeping bag, crouching in the middle of his tent. He peered outside, hoping that he was still dreaming. In an instant, his heart leapt into his throat when he saw a dog, its fur black and grey, running at him from the other side of the fire, eyes still a blood red, its mouth open and bleach white fangs stretching out of it. This time Sam could scream, cutting himself off as the dog leapt at him through the tent's closed screen, knocking him onto his back and winding him.

"_WHERE IS SHE!"_

A painfully loud voice boomed in Sam's head. Black edged around his vision as he stared up into the creature's toothy maw. Blood trickled down his shoulders as the dog's claws cut into them from where it was pinning him down.

"_Kidnapper, answer me or your life will end here. I repeat, where is she!"_ This time, Sam could tell it was the dog that said it. Trying desperately to inhale, his grateful lungs sucked in air when it shifted slightly, giving him some small measure of comfort.

"Where is who!" Sam demanded back.

The Pokémon growled again, the same, bone-chilling sound which had terrified Sam before. "_Do not play stupid. You and your cohorts took a young one from us in violation of the treaties!_" The dog Pokémon paused, suddenly sniffing Sam intently. "_You… You do not smell like her._" The red glow faded, and two, intelligent brown eyes narrowed down at Sam instead. For an instant, it felt like Sam was being looked into, rather than at, and in an instant, the creature pulled back off of Sam altogether. "_Ah, you are one of the mind people._"

Sam struggled to sit up, gasping hard to fill his lungs properly. His shoulders stung savagely from the cuts on them. Feeling a terrible sense of déjà vu, Sam closed his eyes, focusing for a moment while he collected himself. "What is going on here!" He yelled at the dog, who remained unflinchingly calm.

"_Two darknesses ago, one of our pups went missing. When she did not come back after the first, our Alpha punished me for neglecting my duty, and sent me to find her._"

"Her? Duty?" Sam asked, feeling like part of the puzzle was missing.. Suddenly, the pieces fell into place, and Sam groaned. "Wait, no, I think I get it. Your pup, is she about so tall?" He held his hand the relevant height from the ground. "Dark colour, incredibly temperamental?"

The Pokémon released an eerie cackle which made the hairs on Sam's neck stand up. "_Yes, that is her. I followed her trail from shadow to shadow, until it disappeared; mingled with the scent of human. You have met her then?"_

Sam nodded. "Yeah, she appeared out of nowhere, and she's kept me at a distance since. One of my friends took a liking to her, and hasn't let her leave his presence for most of today."

"_Ah!"_

Sam raised an eyebrow warily. "Does that mean something to you?"

"_The pup has developed a taste for your friend._"

Sam stared. "Come again?"

The dog Pokémon sighed. "_My kind, what humans call 'Shadine', are ghost Pokémon. We feed on the energy left by the living. We have learned to choose what we feed from, however. The pups, what you would call 'Welpine', are not so selective. This one must have caught scent of your friend's energy and…_" The Shadine paused for a moment, seeming to search for the right term. "_Developed a liking for how he tastes, for a lack of a better term._"

Sam stared at the Shadine for a moment, before letting out a small burst of laughter, stopping when his shoulder flashed with pain. "Oh Mew, wait until I tell him this."

"_Your friend may have experienced an unusual tiredness, especially if the pup has been feeding all day._" Sam nodded. "_In that case, it may be quite difficult to wake him up until he regains some energy. We had best retrieve her, before she causes irreparable harm._"

Sam grimaced. "You're right. Let's go wake him up."

Getting up on all paws, the Shadine walked through the fly netting of the tent. Scowling, Sam undid the screen, wincing as the motion pulled on the scratches. Once out in the open, he walked over to the Shadine. "Do you have a name, by the way?"

The Shadine looked thoughtful again. "_I believe the human translation is 'Bones Bleached by Moonlight'_. Sam stared for a moment. "Um, how about we call you 'Moon' then? It's a little less of a mouthful."

"_If it is easier_." Moon said, sounding doubtful. He followed Sam over to Nick's tent. Undoing the netting, Sam looked over at his friend, frowning when he saw a dimly lit flashlight next to him. The Welpine was lying between it and Nick, looking content. At the sound of the zipper being opened, it looked up at Sam, growling again and showing teeth. Glaring down at it, Sam raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

"Someone to see you."

In an instant, with yet another terrifying growl, Moon burst through the tent wall, picking the Welpine up by the scruff of the neck and shaking her vigorously, throwing her against the wall of the tent, and then bowling her across to the door with a smack of his paw. She howled with fear the entire time, causing movement in Brendan's tent. Popping his head out of Nick's tent, Sam waved as Brendan hurried out, carrying his belt that held his Pokéballs.

"It's ok, someone is getting taught a lesson."

"Lesson?" Brendan asked frantically.

_Rrrrrrrr!_

Brendan visibly paled at the sound of Moon chastising the pup. Even though Sam knew what it was now, it still frightened him. "It turns out the puppy was a runaway. Um, do you mind helping me with these?" He stood up, showing Brendan the scratches. Taking a look at them, Brendan quickly ducked into his tent. Seating himself by the fire, Sam sighed, suddenly very tired. He knew he should put some more wood on the fire so Brendan could see, but he was honestly too tired now.

Brendan solved that problem on his own, releasing one of his own Pokémon, a Grumpig. Using the light provided by her Flash attack, Brendan was able to clean and patch up the scratches by the time Moon had finished lecturing the Welpine. The disgraced puppy exited Nick's tent first, tail between her legs, followed shortly by Moon. Seating himself near to the fire, the Welpine a respectful distance from him, close to Brendan, Moon waited until Brendan had put the medical kit away and returned before speaking.

"_I apologise for the trouble my pup and I caused you. If I had been better in my duty, she would not have been able to wander off in the first place. She has indeed been feeding from your fri- stop that!" _Moon leapt to his feet and through the fire, batting the Welpine with another severe blow, knocking her into the firewood. Sam and Brendan stared at Moon, who growled at the Welpine. "_She was feeding again, from you this time._" Moon said, inclining his head towards Brendan.

Brendan frowned, before understanding hit him. "Why that little… So that's why I've been tired all day!"

"And you just thought you were getting old."

"I know where you sleep Sam!"

"Right. Anyway, as you were saying?" Sam said, looking back at Moon.

"_She has been feeding from the sleeping boy and you._" Moon nodded at Brendan again. "_Unfortunately, because of the amount of contact she insisted on with your friend, to take her away would cause some severe consequences._"

Sam raised an eyebrow. "You know what, let's just go straight to the answers, rather than go through the many, many questions I keep getting." Standing up, he went into his tent, returning seconds later, his blue Pokédex in hand. Flipping it open, he pointed it at the Welpine.

"Welpine, the Ghost Puppy Pokémon. This Pokémon is rarely seen, as it is fiercely protected by its pack. Young Welpine are paired with an older Shadine for guidance until the evolution of the Welpine, due to their disregard for the source of the energy they consume." Sam pressed another button, activating the advanced information section. "Be careful when dealing with this Pokémon. Welpine are notorious for consuming the energy of hapless travellers, using their cute looks and charm to enter their victim's lives. This Pokémon's fur secretes a substance which activates endorphins within the brain, causing their victims to become literally addicted to the presence of this Pokémon."

"Ah." Sam said. "I see what you mean."

Moon sighed. "_Your friend will not be able to resist finding her, or another Welpine, unless outside help is sought. As this is a violation of the Human-Pokémon Peace Treaty, I and my pack must make reparations. If you would accept it, the pup will stay with your friend, and I will stay to guard her until her evolution._"

Sam frowned. "That seems like a lot of consequences for a simple mistake." Biting his lip, he looked over the Welpine, who was looking very sorry for herself. "We can't make the final decision though. Nick will need to make that choice. What about the rest of the pack?"

Moon cocked his head for a moment. "_The Alphas are aware of these proceedings. She is their pup, and they feel she must make amends to your friend. What I see and think, they see and think. Should she choose to return to the pack, she will become part of it, if not, she will form her own pack._"

"I…see." Brendan said, sounding uncomfortable with the idea. "And you?"

"_As I have previously said, I will remain with the pup until her evolution, guiding her energy abilities and aiding all three of you as needed. Once she has evolved, I will return to the pack and bring new knowledge back, in payment for my wrongdoings._"

Sam and Brendan exchanged a look, Brendan's doubtful, Sam's weary. "I guess it's up to Nick then, to decide." Sam said finally. "I get the feeling he won't be able to respond until late, tomorrow. So we can find out then."

Moon nodded his head. "_I understand. In that case, I will patrol the campsite with the pup, and then sleep in your friend's cave. He will need frequent contact with the pup, and I can prevent her from feeding from him further._"

"Ok, it's settled then." Brendan got to his feed, yawning and stretching. "Tomorrow, we'll figure it all out, and go from there."

"_Indeed._"

* * *

><p>Pokédex:<p>

Politoed, the Frog Pokémon  
>Whenever three or more of these Pokémon get together, they sing in a loud voice that sounds like bellowing.<br>Evolves from Poliwhirl with the use of a King's Rock

Grumpig, the Manipulate Pokémon  
>It uses the black pearl on its forehead to control the opponent at will. It breathes heavily when it uses this power.<br>Evolves from Spoink at Level 32

Welpine, the Ghost Puppy Pokémon  
>Despite its cute appearance, this Pokémon can be quite dangerous. Some Welpine can merge with shadows, which it uses to hide from the prey it's stalking.<br>Evolves at Level 20 with high happiness to Shadine

Shadine, the Shadow Canine Pokémon  
>This Pokémon is intensely loyal to its trainer or pack leader. Despite its ferocious appearance, Shadine are quite gentle unless provoked. They are excellent trackers which track energy, not scent.<br>Evolves at Level 36 to Eidogami

Pyrberd, the Baby Phoenix Pokémon  
>This Pokémon can never sleep or rest. If it does, its inner flames will consume it, reverting it to an egg. This egg will later hatch, so that the Pyrberd may try again.<br>Evolves at Lv 40 to Soloost.


	6. Chapter 6: Bait and Hitched

Pokemon ©1995-2012 Nintendo, GAME FREAK Inc, Creatures Inc.  
>Janera and all related creatures, items and landforms ©2002-2012 Obsidian Blade<br>Metone and all related creatures, items and landforms ©2002-2012 TopazSoarhire  
>Dictioy and all related creatures, items and landforms ©2004-2012 Articunomew<p>

* * *

><p><em>Now I can see you…<br>Oh no, please no!  
>Now I can touch you!<br>Oh god, please no!_

_I'm right here now!  
>Oh, please tell me where…<br>I'm in a nightmare…  
>You better run, I'm back to hunt you down!<em>

_Halloween  
>performed by Aqua<em>

With a sigh, Sam dropped onto a log that lined the clearing they had stopped in for the night. Ruefully, he looked down at his feet, eager to take his shoes off. It seemed one of the things people glossed over when it came to Pokémon Journeys was the pain your feet went through almost every day. His feet were in good condition compared to Nick's, the younger boy had had two or three blisters appear on his feet.

It was Sam's turn to set up the campfire, something he wasn't looking forward to. Despite comprehensive lessons from Brendan and his Pokémon, it still took Sam nearly half an hour to get a spark going, one that died when he looked away for a few seconds when a rustling bush distracted him. With an angry grumble, he sat back on his heels, staring intently at the campfire. Nick had the night free of chores, so, despite his feet, he was off looking for some of the local Pokémon, accompanied by Moon and Walburga, the Welpine.

Brendan, on the other hand, was within sight of the campsite, having an animated conversation on his C-Gear. Idly wondering who the older boy was talking to, Sam landed flat on his rear when a stream of fire launched from the bushes and set the logs he was attempting to light on fire. Staring wide eyed at the campfire, then at the bush, Sam almost swallowed his tongue as a Ninetails came out of the bush.

"Uh, sweetie, I gotta go." He heard Brendan say hurriedly, then a quick click. By the time Brendan was in the clearing, the Ninetails was seated serenely on the other side of a cheerfully crackling fire. Scrambling to his feet, Sam stood alongside Brendan, trying to get his heart to stop pounding.

The Ninetails and Brendan looked intently at each other, before Brendan bowed his head slightly. "Welcome to our campfire. Are you in need of help?"

_I am in need of no help, human._ The Ninetails said in a warm voice, without moving its mouth. Among their many powers, Ninetails were capable of telepathic communication, a rarity among canine Pokémon. _Instead, I come to ask a-._ The Ninetails paused, before letting out a small, high pitched yelp. Sam winced as the PokéTrans in his ear gave a squeal of feedback as it said three words simultaneously; 'hunt', 'possession' and 'meal'. Despite being advanced technology, it could be overwhelmed in some cases, especially when one word meant several things to a Pokémon. Rubbing at his ear, Sam thought quickly to try and figure out what the Ninetails meant.

"A favour?" Brendan said idly, ignoring the discomfort of the boy next to him. The Ninetails inclined its head. It seemed that the language of Ninetails didn't have a word for favour, something that didn't surprise Sam. Ninetails were known for simply taking or making assumptions.

_Yes, a favour_. Looking over towards the bushes, as if sensing something. _I am the Alpha of a pack which roams this area. My mate has recently had a litter of kits. As many Trainers pass through our territory, I would like to expose my kits to humans so that they may have better relations with them. _

Sam's blood froze as a low rumble sounded out around them. With a howl of anger, Moon the Shadine sprang out of the shadows, placing himself next to Brendan. The Ninetails sprang up immediately, baring his fangs in distaste.

"Moon, fall back." Brendan called out. "He is not here to hurt us." Growling further, Moon waited a moment as if to show Brendan that he was not under his power, then backed away slowly, keeping his front to the Ninetails.

In the awkward silence that followed, Brendan looked between the Ninetails and Moon. "I think…" He began slowly. "That it should be fine. Moon is travelling with us to guide a pup in his pack, so if you can consent to travelling with a Shadine, a Welpine and us, then you are welcome to join us by all means."

Giving a low hiss at Moon, the Ninetails' eyes began to glow a pale blue. _Though I loathe to travel with one of the unlucky ones, I will accept your request. My pack will be here within the hour._ The Ninetails sat down in the dust, not taking his eyes off of Moon.

Giving a sigh, Sam turned to Moon. "Where's Nick and Bugga?" Walburga was too much of a mouthful to say too often.

Giving another dangerous rumble, the Shadine's eyes began to glow a vivid yellow to match the pale blue of the Ninetails. "_The Nick and the pup are returning. I will assess whether or not the pup can control her appetite when they return._" Another test then. Since joining the group six days ago, Moon had been constantly training and testing Bugga, limiting the amount of energy the puppy was absorbing from Nick and turning it to other sources. Sam and Moon had been able to create a Reaper Cloth from one of Nick's shirts which Bugga had taken to carrying with her. Despite the energy loss and the resulting tiredness, Nick hadn't complained, keeping up with Sam and Brendan as best he could.

The Ninetails pack journeyed with the group for the next two days, though tension was high between the three Ninetails of the pack and Moon. The Alpha female was particularly hard to deal with. She was a very doting mother to the litter of five Vulpix who each only had two tails at this point. As they grew older, their tails would split until they had six each. Instead of slowly getting used to the humans, the Vulpix puppies integrated themselves into everything the humans did, playing tricks where they could, such as heating up their food faster than it should have cooked, or weaving between the feet of the humans as fast as they could, causing many trips and stumbles.

Sam was the first to complain to the Alpha Male Ninetails. Instantly, the Alpha Female Ninetails began rejecting Sam's claims, saying her darling children would never play tricks. Under the pressure from his mate, the male Ninetails caved, and didn't interject until they were about to stop for the night.

In a vexed mood from his discussion earlier that day with the male Ninetails, Sam failed to notice one of the Vulpix kits attempting to dodge between his feet. With a yelp, he stumbled to the side and fell, landing solidly on three of the alpha female's tails. Instinctively, she wheeled, teeth bared, about to crunch down on Sam's leg when a white barrier of shimmering light sprang into life between Sam and the Ninetails. The whole group stopped what they were doing, as Moon sprang forward, a white aura shining around him as he kept up the protective wall.

_That is ENOUGH_. The telepathic voice of the male Ninetails boomed through Sam's head, and presumably, everyone's mind. _We will be leaving now._ He said shortly, glaring intently at his mate, who bowed her head submissively. Padding up to Sam, the Ninetails bowed his head. _My kits have caused trouble._ _They will be punished_. Turning on his heel, the Ninetails began padding away from the road and into the wilderness, growling when the Vulpix kits, especially the one who caused the problem, seemed reluctant to follow.

Sam watched as the pack left, when the female Alpha turned and stared directly at Sam. Her eyes flashed brightly for a moment, and then she was gone.

Sam shuddered, feeling a mixed sense of relief and dread. That could have gone a lot better than it did. Brendan and Nick watched stoically as got to his feet, rubbing his elbow where he had fallen on it.

"Sorry." He muttered quickly. "I didn't mean for that to happen."

Brendan rolled his eyes. "If it wasn't you, it would have been me. I was on the verge of kicking those Vulpix over the horizon. At least we can get some quiet now." He turned to Moon. "Quick reactions, what move was that?"

Moon looked surprised, seeming to have been expecting a lecture as opposed to praise. "_I do not know the human name. Long Protection is the simplest explanation._"

Brendan thought for a moment, before nodding. "Ah, Wide Guard. Awesome, that's a good move to know." He looked intently at the shadow dog. "Are you ok? You look… faded, I guess."

Moon responded by walking ahead of the group. With a bark, Bugga bounded after him, leaping to catch the end of his scruffy tail in her mouth and missed, Nick's shirt flapping like a cape behind her.

The camp was mostly silent that night. The moon was dark, making the landscape unseeable beyond the light of the campfire. Sam looked silently into the fire while the others made small talk, seeming to understand that Sam wanted to be introspective that night.

It was mostly paranoia that made Sam keep quiet. Ninetails were the source of many tales and legends regarding curses and hexes. In these stories, Ninetails apparently cursed anyone who pulled on their tails. While Sam hadn't pulled on the Ninetails' tail, he had the feeling the female Alpha wouldn't be particularly discriminating.

"Sam?" Startled, the red haired boy looked up to find both Brendan and Nick looking at him.

"What? Yes?"

"I said that we should probably turn in. If we walk fast enough tomorrow, we may be able to get to Arw City in two days." Brendan said, looking sympathetically at the boy. Brendan had the disturbing habit of seeming to know what was bothering either Nick or Sam, though he took a hands off approach in how it was resolved normally.

"Oh, sure." Sam said, automatically getting to his feet. His line of sight swept over the small group of Pokémon that were sleeping near the fire. "Where's Moon and Sparx?"

Nick waved dismissively. "Moon went hunting, something about needing to keep his energy supplies up after being around the Ninetails' pack for so long. It's a new moon though, so I'm not sure how much energy he'll get from it." Sam's eyes looked up at the sky, spying the dark circle that was the moon shortly before it slipped behind a cloud. "As for Sparx, I'm not sure. He's around here somewhere though. Probably wriggled into Brendan's backpack and gotten stuck again.

"I hope not." Brendan said grimly. "He ate half of my stash of rare candies last time. Any more and you're going to have a Pichu who is wider than he is tall."

Sam smiled a little at that. Seeing the reaction, Brendan grinned back. "Ok, I'll head into bed. Night guys."

Getting changed was always awkward in the darkness of a tent, though Sam was beginning to get used to it after two weeks camping. On a whim, he dressed in the compression pants and shirt that he had received from the International League. He kept forgetting to put them on, and apparently they helped muscles to heal overnight. Plus, they helped you to stay warm, which was becoming less of a factor in the weeks leading up to summer. Pulling his socks off, and nearly falling over in the process, Sam sighed as his feet were exposed to the cool outside air, before zipping up his tent and falling almost instantly into a dreamless sleep on his bag.

With a jerk, Sam came back to consciousness. Cracking open an eye, he looked at the bottom of his sleeping bag where a small lump was curled up. Dirden must have crawled in while he was sleeping. Giving a grumble, Sam moved his feet away from the slightly frigid chill of the young dragon's scales. Wondering what had made him pick a dragon / ice type for a starter, he struggled out of his sleeping bag, further cursing the cold chill of the pre-dawn air. Poking his head outside, he frowned as he looked at the moon. Checking his C-Gear, he muttered as he saw it was 4am, far earlier than he wanted to get up.

He was about to return to his sleeping bag when he saw Brendan's tent was wide open. The odd thing was that the older boy didn't seem to be in there. Getting out of his tent, he paused when he saw a small note pinned to the fly screen. Reaching over, he tore it from the pin it was attached to.

_Gone in search of Sparx.  
>Nick<em>

Sam blinked in confusion. Brendan wasn't in his tent, and further investigation showed that Nick wasn't in his either. Brendan's Pokémon were gone, while Bugga was still curled up on her cape, though she looked up and growled when Sam looked in. Clicking his tongue against his teeth, he brought out his C-Gear properly, typing in Nick and Brendan's numbers in a group call. After a minute of no response, he put it away, beginning to worry. Heading back into his tent, he tugged on his clothes, calling Dirden awake as he did.

"Dirden, Nick and Brendan are missing. Wake up."

Hearing a grumble, the lump in Sam's sleeping bag rolled over, and Dirden began to snore.

Rolling his eyes, Sam tugged on his shoes, emerging from his tent again. A starburst of white pain flared in his head, and for the second time that night, Sam lost consciousness.

A vibrant, throbbing pain greeted Sam's return to the world of the living. Giving a deep groan, he went to raise his hand to his head, but found him unable to move it. Struggling to open his eyes, he retched and shut them again instantly.

"Sam?"

Someone was talking from a distance.

"Sam, are you ok?"

His brain tried to focus over the pain, nausea and… well, more pain. With another throb, he winced and groaned again.

"Sam, please open your eyes. Don't fall asleep." The voice sounded desperate. And sleep? Sleep sounded good. "Please Sam!"

Slowly, Sam's eyes opened, looking in the direction of the voice. Nick was there, tied up, looking intensely concerned.

"Sam, listen to me. I think you have a concussion, but you need to focus. Brendan is in a bad shape, his head is bleeding." Brendan? Bleeding? Giving another groan, Sam inhaled deeply, which cleared up the fog a little bit.

"What's going on?"

"We've been captured." Nick whispered back. "Some guys caught me when I went looking for Sparx. They got Moon as well, he's been trapped by some Volbeats."

"Volbeats… Great." Sam muttered. "Do they have everyone?"

"Brendan took his Pokémon with him when he came after me. They're on a table in a shack. We're tied up under a tree on the other side of the fire from the shack. I can see our packs from here."

Following Nick's gaze, Sam winced as a shock of pain went through his brain from the light of the fire. With some effort, he focused his eyes on their packs. "Wait, Dirden was in my sleeping bag. Is he here?"

"Yeah, they got him in a cage, along with Bugga." Came Nick's quiet reply.

A groan came from Nick's other side. Looking over, Nick asked "Brendan?" and leaned in. "Come on Brendan, don't pass out again."

The sound of retching, and then a wet noise, came from the other side of the tree, making Sam's stomach roll. Swallowing and closing his eyes again, he almost fell asleep when Nick nudged him. Even the gentle bump made Sam's head regret ever meeting the boy.

"Come on, I need you to stay together Sam." Nick sounded desperate. "Brendan, you too."

A muffled noise came from the side Brendan was on. Leaning in, Nick began to say something. "What? Sa-"

"Rebu sssgear."

Nick frowned. "What?"

"Rebut ssgear. Em'gecy." Brendan tried again, his voice barely audible, even to Nick.

"I know it's an emergency. What are you trying to say?"

"Red… but… C… gear."

"Red… oh, button!" Nick said loudly."

"QUIET!"

The sudden noise made Nick and Sam jerk backwards. His eyes wide now, Sam looked up at the dark figure towering above them. He was thickly set, though the source of light made it hard to see what he looked like. "Whatever you kids are doing, just shut up. We'll be gone as soon as we finish getting your stuff."

Looming over them for a moment, the man returned to where he had been, which Sam guessed was behind the fire where he couldn't look.

"Red… bu-." Brendan tried again, but was cut off by Nick.

"It's ok Bren, the red button." Nick said encouragingly. "We don't have any way to get it though…"

"Sam… psyc-." Brendan's head fell forward again.

"Oh no, come on Brendan. Stay awake." Nick urged, nudging him. "Come on. Sam, what was he saying?"

"Um… I might be able to get it." Sam shuddered as another wave of nausea went through him. "I can try, but I don't think I can do it."

"Whatever you can do, try it." Nick urged. "Come on Brendan, stay awake."

Looking over at the shack, Sam's eyes tried to focus on Brendan's bag. Their C-Gears were on a table in front of the bags, along with their Pokédexes.

Teleportation was tricky work. In theory, it was an easy enough concept to understand: you dissolved the molecules of something and rearranged them elsewhere in the exact same state. It differed from telekinesis because of the concentration required, and the strength needed to dissolve something, and then put it back again. Concentration was a problem with the current state of Sam's head, but power was the biggest issue on any day. Sam had only successively teleported an item once in his life, and that had been a thin piece of paper.

Inhaling deeply, Sam leaned back, grounding himself against the tree. Pain was a physical response to something wrong in his body. He took note of where the pain was, his head, and a rock was digging into his leg. He attempted to push the pain away, with limited success. The ache in his head dulled to a throb, but it was more manageable.

"Sam? Don't go to sleep!" Nick's voice cut through Sam's thoughts, jolting him back to the present. The tide of pain roared back at full force, and Sam cringed.

"Shhh! I'm trying to do something." Sam said sharply. Nick sank back, looking at Sam in confusion. Raising his eyebrow, he fixed Nick with a look, before trying to get back his previous state. Inhaling deeply as he sunk back into his meditative state, he opened his eyes when he felt he was ready. He looked directly at Brendan's C-Gear, which was a shade of green to Sam's blue and Nick's gold.

Sam's muscles began to tense as he focused his entire mind on the C-Gear. It was an all or nothing process, fortunately. No half-teleported machinery here. His feet began to tingle, as if numb, and the end of his nose began to itch. There was a sudden snap in the tension, and Sam slumped in his place.

"What happened?" Nick asked, trying to turn and look and make sure Sam was awake.

Sam grunted, gathering his energy again. Looking intensely at the C-Gear, Sam tried again. The feeling that dulled the pain washed over him, leaving his mind focused on just the one thing. The tingle returned in his feet, and the itching became more insistent. A sharp explosion of pain broke through even the meditative state, making Sam cry out. A coppery taste filled Sam's mouth as he panted.

"Sam! Your nose!"

"Shh!" Sam hissed. His vision was clearing. On the other side of the clearing, he could see Dirden and Bugga in a cage, backing to the furthest corner. Dirden spat a small flurry of ice, only for it to spark into a small force field that covered the gap between the bars. The cage was knocked on its side as the man took offence to the attempted attack.

A flare of anger filled Sam. The sound of Brendan vomiting again added another burn to the fire, and with a sudden snap, the C-Gear teleported with a white flash of light that drew the man's attention. Looking down, Nick saw the C-Gear in his hand. Instantly, his thumb snapped down on the red button on the side, and a signal went out across southern Dictioy.

In the Arw City police station, an alarm sounded at the same time as one went off in Professor Willow's lab in Comed Town, waking the Professor from her sleep. Reacting faster than her sleepy look suggested, she began entering commands into her computer, alerting the other mentors in the Mentor program.

While the police began reacting to the signal, the closest form of help was within twenty minutes of their location. May Birch felt a twinge of fear as she looked at her C-Gear, seeing the distress message coming from her twin brother's signal.

Within minutes, she was ready and had roused Katrina and Hope, getting them ready even as they half-slept. May spoke as she moved, forming a plan.

"We don't know what the problem is, but the International League put the Mentor Program into place to stop some poachers taking advantage of the new trainers." May said briskly, directing her Swampert, Perry, to douse the fire. "The amount of trainers in Dictioy has also been limited, unless they live here. I need you two to help me with what's going on. Hope, you and your Sparkid need to get to the road and attract attention. Katrina, you need to keep your Mudkip in his Pokéball. He doesn't listen to you under the best of circumstances. You have martial arts training though, right? I need you to free Brendan and his… mentees? The two with him, anyway. I will keep the others distracted."

"Right." Katrina nodded. Hope was wide-eyed with fear, trembling slightly over the situation. Her Sparkid bleated plaintively, butting his head against her thigh gently.

Turning away from the girls, May released a Shedinja from its Pokéball. "Rita, I need you to scout here." She pointed to the map on her C-Gear, a red blinking dot depicting the location of her brother. "Stay out of sight, and don't do anything that might attract attention. We will meet you here," She pointed to the relevant place. "-in fifteen minutes."

In answer, Rita faded away into nothing, the glowing halo the last thing to disappear. Pulling out a second Pokéball, May looked at it. "Ok Manny, we need to fly silently." Releasing her Salamence, Manny shuffled around as silently as he could, inviting May and Katrina to get on his back. "Hope, get to the road and make that distraction."

With an unavoidable whooshing noise, Manny took off, Katrina holding tight to May's waist as they left the campsite behind in the care of Lolo, May's Breloom.

The skies of Dictioy were clear during spring. Keeping an eye on the landscape below them, May thanked Celestrial, the legendary bird of darkness, that the moon was covered. Keeping an eye on her C-Gear, she stopped Manny when he was close to the area Brendan's C-Gear was signalling a distress from. Finding a clearing, they landed as Rita materialised by the group. She floated up to pause at the level of May's head, her halo glowing faintly as she communicated silently with her trainer. Finally, May nodded.

"The boys are tied up on the other side of the clearing from two men, a woman, and their Pokémon. A Frezint and Welpine are in a cage near them, while a shack has their belongings." May frowned, before pressing forward. "I'll take care of the kidnappers, you free the boys. Thanks Rita." The Shedinja faded out again, disappearing into the darkness. "Ok Manny, you ready to scare some kidnappers?"

Inhaling deeply, the Salamence let loose a roar which startled Katrina so much that she fell off of his back. Focusing her eyes on the dark outline of May, Katrina got up and fled into the bushes, away from the girl who was about to attack the kidnappers. A small beep on her C-Gear informed her she had received a message. Opening it, she found a map of the area. Altering her course through the bushes, she froze when she heard twigs snapping. Darting down to the ground, and falling in love with her choice of black clothing all over again, she barely dared to breathe as two dark shapes moved past her in the dark, heading in the direction of May. When she felt it was safe to move again, she began slowly making her way to the clearing.

Each minute that passed felt like an hour. Stepping out from behind a large bush, she was confronted with a small fire in a clearing with a single tree and a crudely made shack. In a cage by the shack were two trapped Pokémon, who looked to be sleeping or collapsed, she couldn't tell. Keeping an eye on the cage, she edged around the clearing slowly, getting closer by sneaking up in the shadow of the tree. It wasn't until she was leaning against it that she realised that Sam, Nick and Brendan were tied to it. Kneeling down, she began tugging on the knots keeping them held, swearing softly as her fingers encountered a puzzling collection of rope that didn't seem like they could be untied even in daylight, let alone at night.

"Look out!" A male voice she vaguely recalled as Nick's shouted suddenly, making Katrina bolt upright. Her right arm came up and out, deflecting a punch directed at her. Karate drilled into her over long hours took over as she grabbed the now deflected arm, pulling a surprised woman towards her. With a simple move, Katrina pushed her knee into the gut of the woman, winding her. Dropping her leg, Katrina fell back, her arms brought up into a defensive block. The woman knelt over, attempting to catch her breath back. Taking one step forward, Katrina snapped out the blade of her hand, catching the woman on the temple and dropping her to the ground, unconscious. Arms still up in case her opponent was faking it; she nudged the woman with her foot, rolling her over onto her side. She was breathing, a good sign. Taking a look at the woman, and realising she had to take the risk, she walked backwards from the darkness behind the tree, turning her back when she could to dash over to the cage.

"Hey! Over here!" Nick called, trying to get her attention. Katrina ignored him, running over to the caged Pokémon and releasing the lock on their cage. The first to dash out was a small puppy who charged behind the shack. A snarl sounded out, along with a dull thump. Following the puppy, Katrina and Dirden found it now stuck inside of a triangle made by three Volbeats which were expelling a powerful beam of light from the bulbs on their behinds.

Katrina stopped in her place, but Dirden kept going. Pointing her finger at the closest Volbeat, Katrina called out "Wing Attack!". In answer, Dirden took flight, skimming the ground with the edge of his long toes. His outstretched wing collided with one of the Volbeats, knocking it from its place in the triangle with a pained cry. "Ok, now Whirlwind!"

Dirden spun upwards, turning to face the group. The puppy was whining at an older dog which was now standing. As an intense gale of wind bore down on the Pokémon, the older dog scooped up the puppy in its mouth, dodging the wind. The Volbeats were blown into the wall of the shack, which gave a groan and collapsed, burying the bug Pokémon under it.

"Ok, let's free the others." Katrina called out. Dirden gave a nod, flying around the fire to land next to Sam and the others. "Can you cut through the rope?"

"Zint." The dragon type nodded. Extending his claws, he swiped repeatedly at the one spot, until the ropes snapped. Brendan and Sam toppled over immediately, with Sam nearly crushing his own Pokémon. Giving a groan, Nick extended his arms, turning to Brendan.

"Moon!" He called out. The larger dog materialised as if from the shadows, appearing by Nick's side. "I need you to get my bag from that shed. Can you do it?" The dog barked in response, disappearing again. A cold chill seemed to move through Katrina an instant later.

"Um, Frezint. Can you help me bind that woman?" She asked, moving carefully around the tree. The woman was still knocked out. In response, Dirden began dragging at the cut rope. Katrina began helping him, untangling it from both Brendan and Sam. While Sam was also a medical emergency, it felt safer to take care of the woman first.

Just as she had the woman bound hand and foot, a loud roar filled the forests again, and a large plume of flames rose above the trees. A minute later, May and Manny flew above the treetops, two struggling figures caught in Manny's claws. Landing in the camp, Manny pressed lightly on the two men, preventing their escape. Moon had returned with Nick's bag, from which Nick had pulled a small canister of cream, spreading it gently over the gash on Brendan's head. With Katrina's help, May and Nick soon had Sam and Brendan comfortable, and within the hour, all three kidnappers had been rounded up by the police who had been directed there by Hope.

* * *

><p>Pokédex:<p>

Vulpix, the Fox Pokémon  
>As each tail grows, its fur becomes more lustrous. When held, it feels slightly warm.<br>Evolves with the use of a Fire Stone to Ninetails.

Ninetails, the Fox Pokémon  
>Very smart and very vengeful. Grabbing one of its many tails could result in a 1000-year curse.<br>Evolves from Vulpix.

Swampert, the Mud Fish Pokémon  
>Swampert is very strong. It has enough power to easily drag a boulder weighing more than a ton. This Pokémon also has powerful vision that lets it see even in murky water.<br>Evolves from Marshtomp.

Shedinja, the Shed Pokémon  
>Shedinja's hard body doesn't move - not even a twitch. In fact, its body appears to be merely a hollow shell. It is believed that this Pokémon will steal the spirit of anyone peering into its hollow body from its back.<br>Evolves from Nincada.

Volbeat, the Firefly Pokémon  
>With their taillights lit, Volbeat fly in a swarm, drawing geometric designs in the night sky. They move their nests if their pond water becomes dirty.<br>This Pokémon has not been recorded to evolve.

Salamence, the Dragon Pokémon  
>Equipped with sharp teeth and massive claws, weighs over 200 pounds, and has the fastest speed of all the Flying Type Pokémon.<br>Evolves from Shelgon.

* * *

><p>Trainer Tips:<p>

Human Psychics  
>While many Pokémon are psychic, only a few humans are. These individuals are all unique in how their power manifests, and their skills in its different forms.<p> 


End file.
